My Sweet Yuki-Hime
by Robotic Draconian
Summary: Covered in a blanket of snow and quickly losing blood, the raven haired ANBU can't help but feel gratitude towards his savior. AU, Characters are 18-And-Older. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

The snow fell heavily, covering the forest in a giant blanket of white. Animals scurried off, the wounded predator staring them down, his aura ablaze with rage and a feral instinct to kill. His right hand gripped the hilt of his sword, blade dug into the snow, crunching and moving it with every slight movement; while his left did its best to stop the blood from pouring out of the hole made from the kunai.

He moved his head downward, glaring at the accursed mask – with its abominable crack. The moment he had donned that mask had been the moment his life as an assassin –an ANBU– had begun. He chuckled, thinking how it was always the ANBU who were found dead. _Elite force my ass,_ He thought bitterly. Trying to hold back the coughing fit that came out of nowhere. With every cough, more and more pressure was put on his ribs and more blood gushed out from his wound. _I swear the damn steel pierced an artery._

It should have been a simple mission; kill the target, obtain the scroll and get out alive. The first two steps had gone smoothly enough. It was the getting out alive part that had been troublesome, _And near impossible, it looks like._ He had run into the forest, hoping to lose them within the thistles of the forest. That plan had failed.

He had been easily surrounded, dealing with enemies that were all easily on the level of a Jounin; and it didn't help that there were about a dozen of them. He had started off by getting the higher ground and launching a rain of fire on them, effectively killing one and slightly scorching another. But that barely slowed them, as one was already above and coming down fast with a powerful kick, heel coming in first. He had barely enough time to put up his arms to block it before he was smashed down, crashing through a branch, back smashing against the one below.

Two more were on him in an instant, though thankfully he slid and fell off from the branch or he would've been impaled by their weapons. He was somehow able to land on his feet in the snow below and draw his sword, twisting away as another cloaked foe dropped down behind him. Firmly planting his foot in the snow, he was able to get off a good slash, thankful for his luck, as the blade went straight through their neck, blood gushing out like a fountain.

He had no time for rest though, as the one he had scorched dropped down, followed by three others. They closed in on him, surrounding him. Thankfully, his reflexes were well trained, and so was his mind, as he drew out a small leather orb and smacked it into the ground, a cloud of smoke appearing from the device.

Having no allies in this battle, he didn't have to worry about who he killed, but how many he actually killed. He smashed his foot into one of the silhouette's knee, driving them to the ground, where he put his sword into a reverse grip and smashed the blade straight through his scalp, _Three down._ The smoke had already died down when he pulled out his weapon, blade covered in blood.

One of them charged as he spun around, flicking the blood into his eyes and blinding him, allowing him to spin around him and pierce the steel through his stomach. He pulled it out and spun the sword around, back into a proper grip. His back was aching and most likely fractured from the earlier attack, but he had no time to dwell on it, as the two remaining foes circled around him, joined by five more members of their clan; _Just what I need._

He slipped out two kunai, holding them between his fingers in his left hand, his right hand gripping the sword's hilt more tightly than necessary. One came from his right, which was when he launched his left arm in that direction, flicking one of the kunai free, lodging it into his head and dropping him. Without hesitation, he flicked his arm to the left, releasing the second kunai. But this one had the brains to actually move out of the way, so it only grazed their cheek.

Two of them charged at once; one from the front, the other from the back. He ducked down and threw himself backward, toppling over the one from behind and rolled out of the way as the other stabbed down, allowing him to kill his ally, while he used his own sword to swipe at his legs, taking them off at the knees. Before the man could even utter a scream, the masked ninja stabbed the sword straight through his ribcage, silencing him.

_Four left._ He thought, his lips curving upwards into a smirk. _I can do this. I can kill them all._ He couldn't dwell on the thought though, as all four of the enemy ninjas back up, weapons sheathed. _Why are they-? _His eyes shot open as they all began forming their hands into signs. _Crap! No matter what, I won't be able to stop all of them!_

Instead of trying to dodge, he sheathed his own sword and quickly formed his own signs, _Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger. _He took in a deep breath, lifting up his mask, the other four casting their jutsu all at the same time. Wolves of ice shot out of the ground, pillars of ice shot out through the ground, threatening to smash the ninja. A cage of ice surrounded him and finally hundreds of shuriken made of ice formed and shot out at him.

Even faced with all of this, he calmly breathed out, fire pouring out from his mouth, while simultaneously spinning as to spread the flames and protect himself from the majority of the icy attacks. When all was done, thought had left him as he let his body do what it did. He charged through the resulting mist, sword drawn and pointed forward, thrusting straight through an abdomen and throwing them to the ground. He rolled, spinning as two of them were already on him.

Without even thinking, he threw his sword, letting it lodge itself into one of their necks, while he launched himself into the other one, throwing his knee into their stomach and stealing into their pouch, pulling out a kunai and thrusting it into their neck. He didn't even wait for the body to hit the ground before he went around and charged for the last one, eyes glowing in the night.

His foe was brave; he would admit that, for they stood his charge, weapon drawn, without even flinching. _Ox, Rabbit, Monkey,_ In a moment his hand was ablaze with lightning, only taking another moment for it to be thrusted through his foe's chest. "You should be honored," He whispered into his enemy's ear as he fell, "That I would kill you with such a technique."

He walked over to the corpse that held his sword and gripped the handle, dislodging it. He was about to wipe the blood from the steel before he felt a stabbing pain in his abdomen. He looked down to see a steel, double-tipped arrow lodged in his stomach. He looked up to see one final ninja, _The twelfth,_ holding a longbow and alreadynocking another arrow to his string.

Without even realizing it, the ninja was already running up the tree trunk, sword held in front of him. He swiped away the next arrow that came at him and jumped, launching himself straight at the bowman. He swung his sword once more, severing the bow in half and landed on the branch. He stared straight into their eyes, which he noticed were a bright violet. He took a step forward, but only got that far before the archer charged, knife in hand.

He knocked away the knife, thrusting his sword. The steel ate through cloth, skin, meat as well as bone. He withdrew his sword, letting the body fall into the ground. He was about to dismount from the branch himself before a sort of nausea came over him. He stumbled and smashed into the snow below, looking like another corpse for a moment.

Struggling, he was able to find his sword, which he had dropped as well as his mask, which had cracked from the impact and crawl over to a tree. He turned over and used his legs to push himself back onto the trunk of the bark. He noticed that the wound was bleeding profusely for how small it actually was, throwing his mask into the snow.

And that was how he had come into this predicament. _Along with popping an artery, I think the damn thing was also poisoned. There's no other reason for why I'd be as weak as I am now._ He sighed, staring up into the cloud-filled sky. _I wonder who will find my corpse first; friend or foe?_

He heard snow crunch from nearby and saw a figure approach from his left. He craned his head to get a better look, but his vision was blurring. It was only after they crouched down by his body that he was able to see any detail. An ANBU; and a well developed one at that. From the thin figure and large chest, coupled with the round thighs and the long hair that fell loosely to their shoulders, he could tell it was a female.

"Who are you?" He was able to croak out, hating how he was in such a vulnerable state in front of someone known to be his _equal_. They removed their mask, the soft, clear skin being the first feature that he noticed; the soft round nose being the second, and the clear, almost translucent eyes bringing a clear identity to mind, "Hyuga."

A faint smile touched her lips as she spoke, "Glad you're still alive, Sasuke-kun." Who knew, perhaps he would make it back home after all.

* * *

**Okay, I know this was mostly action based, but I _do_ plan on having this continue into something with more romance. Ideas and constructive criticism are encouraged, and any kind of flaming/spamming will be immediately ignored.**


	2. Chapter 2

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

The fire crackled quietly, burning down the few twigs that had been dry enough to light. Looking to his side, Sasuke Uchiha peered outside of the cave's entrance, watching as the snow fell near the mouth of stone. He then turned, staring straight ahead, watching Hinata Hyuga watching the snow fall as he just was a moment ago. He placed two fingers on his wound, which was now wrapped up in bandages.

It had become like this after she had found him in the forest, near death and still dying. She had examined his wound and confirmed what he had thought; the arrow had popped an artery _and_ it was poisoned. She had used a salve to dull the pain and temporarily stop the bleeding, and then wrapped it with a bandage for an elongated fix. She said that she couldn't stop the flow of poison, but that it would have to be done by a professional; back at the village.

Afterward, Hinata had propped him up, leaning him on her shoulder, and began leading him for the village. The snow crunched under their feet with every step, and because of how slippery it was Sasuke almost fell three times, only to be held up by the Hyuga heiress. They had walked for several hours before they found a cave and decided to rest for the night.

The Uchiha was laid back on one of the walls, while Hinata left for fire wood. It was almost half an hour before she returned, with a pitiful pile of twigs. She had said that all the others were to damp to burn, and he simply nodded, seeing how possible that was. After setting up the pile of sticks in between the two, she used a little chakra to set it aflame. She laid back on the wall, across from him, the flames burning between their persons.

Sasuke now sat with his back against the wall, right leg spread straight across the ground, with his left leg pulled up to his chest, arms crossed over his upraised knee. Hinata sat with both legs pressed against her chest, arms wrapped around her shins, cheek nuzzled against her knees as she watched the snow. "Hey?" Hinata looked up and over at Sasuke as he spoke, his voice filled with a little more strength than last time he spoke. "I'm going to rest a little. Wake me when morning comes." She simply nodded and went back to watching the snow.

He closed his eyes, his exhaustion quickly sending him into darkness. A red moon shone brightly within the sky, black snowflakes cascading down from a cloudless sky. A fierce wind was blowing, yet nothing but he seemed to be effected; no trees rustles, no leaves moved, the snowflakes fell straight down in an almost robotic fashion. Yet the wind blew a chill straight through his bones, his clothes flapping, his raven hair being thrown back. A cloud of chilling mist appeared with every breath, his body frozen numb.

Though, numb as it felt, he was still able to walk, the snow crunching under his feet, but the snow never changed. He was walking on top of it, as if he were gliding upon it. _Nothing is ever affected, never changing. I affect nothing, and am only affected. My path is chosen by others, and I only think that I matter._ Another step in the snow, and another crunching, yet the snow stayed the same. Another step, another crunch, another step, another crunch, another step and he heard something snap. _A twig,_ he thought. Another step, another crunch, another step, another crunch, another step and he heard something rumble. _A growl,_ his eyes shot open at the thought, having snapped out of his dream world.

The fire had gone out, only the slightest remnants of wood still sitting there. Outside of the cave a storm had suddenly appeared, the snow being blown around like a typhoon. He felt colder within the cave than when he had first been up, but not as cold as if he had been out there. He looked to see where Hinata was and spotted her by the entrance, mask drawn over her face, body ducked within the shadows. The Uchiha grabbed his sword and struggled to get up, placing a hand on the wall for support, holding his blade within his left hand and hearing another growl.

Snow lightly crunched from outside the cave's entrance as a silhouette appeared. Bigger and bigger it became, seeming to tower over the two shinobi. The first paw entered the stone throat before Sasuke finally saw what it was; a Bear, a _Cave Bear_. It snarled at the sight of Sasuke, but swiped to its side at Hinata's scent.

The Hyuga heiress dodged the attack, rolling the powerful paw. Chakra visibly surrounded her hands as he went in, the bear standing to its full height and swiping again. Ducking, Hinata smashed her chakra-inlaid palm into the large animal's stomach, knocking it back a foot. After rolling, the bear was quickly up on its paws again, though it stumbled a little as it made its way back to Hinata.

This time, it charged straight for her, teeth bared. Hinata took three steps forward, needing only that much momentum to slide under the powerful beast and smash her other palm into its stomach again, this time releasing the chakra in the form of a huge shockwave, which threw the animal straight into the air and back down, the Hyuga already being on the other side of where she had been originally when the beast crashed to the ground.

Sasuke stared in amazement for a few moments, thinking back to the shy girl that Hinata had been when they were in school. He watched as Hinata walked over to the toppled over bear, patting its head as it groaned. "I suppose you're just going to throw it back out there and hope it doesn't come back?"

Hinata raised her head, her clear eyes meeting the Uchiha's grays. "We have plenty of food for now, and…I don't really want to kill it if I don't have to." Sasuke sighed. _Why am I not surprised?_ "Would you have me kill it?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I will, if you really don't want to. With my injuries, we don't know how long it'll take to get back to the village, so it'd be better if we saved our supplies as often as possible. Besides, it'll die out there anyway," He stated, pointing out into the storm. "And I am _not_ sleeping that close to a bloodthirsty animal. If we kill it now, its death we'll be quick, we'll have more supplies saved up and I'll be able to sleep with more ease, and I think you would too."

Hinata sighed, "A-alright. Do it then…if you must." She didn't watch, and thankfully the bear didn't make a noise as Sasuke plunged his sword into its neck. He cut of strips of meat and did his best to relight the fire, so he could cook the pieces. He ended up throwing the rest of the bear out of the cave, so that it would be frozen and preserved by morning.

They ended up eating the bear meat, though Hinata less enthusiastic than Sasuke. Once they finished, Sasuke tried to relax, but couldn't stop shivering, his cloak having been torn away during his mission by an enemy shinobi as he had tried escaping. Hinata noticed this and went over to him, sitting down next to him and draping her cloak over both of them. He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

"Sharing body heat and, more importantly, keeping you alive." She stated, using Sasuke's shoulder as a pillow. He sighed, but brought up no further of an argument. He simply closed his eyes, leaning his head against the stone wall, quickly falling back into his dream world.

He woke early, Hinata even earlier. She was stretching her muscles out when Sasuke opened his eyes to the sight. Every time she twisted or bent a different part of her was thrown out, her pronounced curves even more noticeable as the ANBU's white-plated armor stretched, straining itself as not to snap against her chest. _You idiot,_ He thought bitterly about himself as he struggled to his feet, grunting from the pain of his wound, immediately forgetting about the Hyuga.

Hinata turned around from the noise. "Before we head out, you should let me put some more numbing salve on your wound, or the trip will be a lot more painful for you." Sasuke only responded with a pained, "Hn," As he unstrapped the white plate from his chest, letting it fall to the ground, _Huge help that thing was, _Sasuke thought angrily, staring down at the white armor, two puncture wounds in it from the double-tipped arrow. He stripped off the black skin-tight shirt, revealing the bandages that Hinata had wrapped around him only a day before; now drenched in dried blood.

Hinata undid the bandages and threw them away, putting on the numbing salve before wrapping clean bandages around the Uchiha's abdomen. He then slipped his shirt back on as buckled the plates back to his upper body. "We should probably get going," _And hope that I survive long enough for the poison to be taken care of._ Hinata nodded and gathered their bags, supporting Sasuke as they made their way from the cave.

Sasuke ended up stopping her though, so he could cut more meat off from the bear, all preserved from the storm that had thankfully subsided sometime during the night. Knowing that Hinata would rather not be reminded of it every time she got more salve or bandages for him, he only put meat into his pack, which halved the amount they should've been able to carry. _It should be fine, as long as I don't slow us down _too_ much._

For several hours, they stomped through the snow, the crunching eventually just becoming another noise, along with their breathing and the rustling of leaves and the scurrying animals that inhabited the trees and burrows. It was almost nightfall by the time they found a building; a small, two-story inn, a nearby stable at hand. "Do you think news of the assassination has reached them?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata nodded, "Most likely."

The Uchiha sighed, "We might as well keep moving then. We're not really well disguised, and I'm not in a condition to fight." He took a sidelong glance at Hinata, "You know what, never mind. I just thought of something." The Hyuga girl stared at him confused.

Sasuke's plan was simple, yet effective. The two would take off their ANBU plates them, along with their masks, inside their bags. Hinata would don her cloak, so they didn't look too similar and Sasuke wrapped a bandage around the ANBU tattoo on his left shoulder. Finally, he had Hinata tie her hair up in a high ponytail, while he wet his hair down.

The Uchiha smiled at his work, "There. Not the best disguises, but you make due with what you got." Hinata nodded with a smile on her face, most likely happy that they would get to sleep in a bed. "Now then, if anyone asks, we're siblings." As soon as he said this and looked in Hinata's eyes, he found a problem. Hinata's _eyes_, _Shit!_ He told her the problem, and solved it by having her pull the cowl over her head. He sighed, "Kind of defeats the purpose of putting your hair up, but if the cowls knocked down, hopefully no one will notice." _Hopefully_, was extremely emphasized.

They made their way down to the inn, Sasuke's hand upon Hinata's shoulder for support, which he dropped to his side when they made it to the building, so as not to seem like an easy target. It had four large tables in the room, only two of them with anyone sitting at them. From across the door was the counter where a middle-aged man stood. He was large with a hooked nose, cracked lips, balding head and large ears. His face was large, gaunt and his eyes powerful.

Hinata had Sasuke go sit down at the table furthest in the back, in the shadows, so he was the least noticeable. After she paid for their rooms and water; bread and cheese, she sat down next to him. "There was only one room, so we'll both be sleeping close to eachother."

The Uchiha nodded, "That's best." Hinata didn't have to ask why.

They ate, the other patrons paying them no notice, before they headed up stairs to their room, the simple climb being painful for Sasuke; though he grit his teeth and made no show of his troubles. The door was made of strong oak, and the room decently sized. There was one dresser that, after inspection, had absolutely nothing in it, a window large enough for someone to slip in and out of the room and one…bed.

Hinata looked at Sasuke, "You're injured, so you should take the bed." The Uchiha only gave her a death glare, telling her not to pity or underestimate him. She didn't seem scared, so either she was just humoring him or was just skilled at hiding her fear, "Alright, we'll share."

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. He wouldn't allow her to pity him, but she wouldn't allow his injury to get worse by sleeping on a hard wooden floor. So _that_ was the decision she had come to. He sighed, shrugging his thoughts away. They kicked off their shoes and got into the bed, otherwise fully dressed, with their backs turned, sleep taking both of them.

Wood creaked under his feet as he descended the path, which was completely devoid of light. Yet even so, he could clearly see the stairs that he was going down. Strange whispers seemed to surround him, which was odd, for when he tried speaking, no sound was made. _I follow the path that's most easily seen, secrets kept from me, while I ignore any kind of sense that's hidden within my mind._ The creaking seemed to become louder, which was odd. Until he realized that it wasn't him, but someone else's footsteps that were moving the wood. And then he heard a doorknob turn, and the creaking of hinges.

His body seemed to move on its own as his eyes opened. His sword was in his hand and drawn. He brought the blade up to his body, blocking a metal claw just as it was about to hit him. He kicked out with his feet, throwing the silhouetted enemy backwards. He heard Hinata stir, but he didn't have time to wake her, for the faceless enemy was already getting back to their feet.

The Uchiha jumped out of the bed, his eyes glowing red. He jumped forward, sword piercing through their body, meat squishing, bones snapping and blood gushing. His sword went straight through their body and the wall, pinning them to the wood. He ran over to the bed, seeing that Hinata was up and already getting the supplies ready to leave. He quickly threw his shoes on and threw his pack over his shoulders. He went back over to the corpse and dislodged his sword. Just in time to, as the huge innkeeper came running in, large hammer in hand. Sasuke grabbed the enemy and threw the body at the innkeeper, knocking him over.

He turned around to see Hinata opening the window. "Let's go!" She said as she jumped out, landing softly on the grass below. Sasuke jumped out, following her, though with less grace as the adrenaline finally left him and he felt the pain of his wound again, the salve having worn off. He stumbled and fell, but was helped up by Hinata. She led him away from the inn, but he stopped her when they were passing by the stable. There was only one horse, and he didn't wait for Hinata. He stumbled over to it and led it out. He gave the reins to Hinata, who got the message and hopped on, Sasuke getting on behind her, arms wrapped around her waist. She spurred the horse into action, hearing the innkeeper's shouts of anger.

They red until the sun rose before Hinata dared to stop, so that she could give her sore legs a rest and, more importantly, change Sasuke's bandages while applying another dose of the numbing salve. Afterward, when bandages were changed, Sasuke told Hinata to put her ANBU plates back on, as he did. They took several minutes to do this, as well as ripping the bandage that covered Sasuke's tattoo and both of them resetting their hair to their original states. Hinata simply undid her hair and let it fall loosely to her shoulders, while Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair, which reset the spikes that had been wetted down and tangled from sleeping in the bed.

They took to riding for several hours before they took to what was currently one of the most beautiful sights in the world to them; the border to the land of fire and the path that would take them to Konoha.

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**Next time: They finally make it to Konoha for Sasuke's healing and more characters are introduced and talked with. ****Ideas and constructive criticism are encouraged, and any kind of flaming/spamming will be immediately ignored.**


	3. Chapter 3

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

The ride had taken another two days and by then, Sasuke was barely moving, Hinata having run out of salve and bandages, though his wound had already scabbed over, so the blood stopped, but the poison was still running strong and becoming stronger with each passing day. By the time they had made it to the village, he was slung over the horse's saddle, leaving Hinata little room to sit, so her lower body was pressed against the Uchiha's side, making the ride uncomfortable for the both of them.

They rode through the gate, the two behind the check-in desk seeing them and calling for someone to take Sasuke to the hospital. They took the horse by the reins and led it to a nearby stable, while Hinata went to the Lady Hokage to report of the happenings of their little trip.

Sasuke opened his eyes to a tiled ceiling, sunlight streaming in through a window to his right. He groaned at the light and held up his hand to keep it from hitting his eyes. He heard metal slide against metal, the light disappearing. He moved his hand and sat up, turning to see flowing pink hair. "Sakura," He stated.

The pinkette turned around and smiled, "Glad to see that you're up, Sasuke." She had started growing her hair again, he noticed. It wasn't down to where it was when they were kids, but it was down to the bottom of her neck, though it was tied up, so it was a bit difficult to tell. Her figure had developed quite a bit, though it was a little hard to tell, with the doctor's coat covering her curves.

His hand moved to where his wound had been – emphasis on _had been_. It was sealed up completely, the pain having disappeared. "You removed the poison." It wasn't a question.

Sakura walked over to his bed, "It wasn't really that difficult. Quite simple actually, compared to some other poisons that I've dealt with." The Uchiha sighed, knowing what she meant. _Sasori of the Red Sand, _he thought bitterly, remembering the time he had spent with the Akatsuki. _Though it's not like I really ever knew the so called 'Puppet Master', _His thoughts were interrupted by what he considered to be the most annoying sound in the world.

The door to the hospital room slammed open, "Teme!"

That sound was the voice of the knucklehead ninja and aspiring Hokage. Naruto Uzumaki.

Sakura snapped her head towards Naruto, annoyance obviously seen within her eyes. "Naruto, quiet down; this is a hospital!" Sasuke eyed her, _Says the person who almost yelled someone's head off._ The newly made Chunin – that's right, _Chunin_ – muttered an apology before continuing on his way over to his hospitalized friend.

"So, I heard you got your ass kicked!" Naruto declared, apparently not noticing the flash of anger that appeared within the Uchiha's prideful grey eyes. "I also heard that Hinata saved you!"

Already, the Uchiha's left eye was twitching. "You better be asking how that's possible, or I swear I'll throw your ass straight out that window." He stated, indicating the curtain-covered window to his right with his thumb.

Naruto harrumphed, "Big talk coming from a guy who's currently hospitalized!"

"What do you want?" The raven-haired boy asked, wanting to get this annoying conversation out of the way as fast as possible.

Suddenly, the spiky-haired blonde had a huge grin on his face, going back to his dimwitted joy-filled self. "Come eat some Ichiraku ramen with me and the guys!" He declared.

"…Why?"

"Well, for one, because it's lunch and two, for a job well done!"

Sasuke cocked and eyebrow and looked at Sakura, "Where's my stuff?" He asked this, noticing that his ANBU plates were off and he was wearing a simple white tee and some tanned breaches.

The medic pointed to a corner in the room, "Your armor is right there, so I sent for some new ones to be delivered to your house. You know, ones that don't have puncture wounds. Also, Hyuga-san came by here earlier for a scroll."

"Hinata?"

"Neji." Sakura replied, "Otherwise, it's been left untouched."

Naruto turned around, "Hey Neji, what did you do with the scroll you took from Sasuke?!"

The long, chestnut haired Hyuga poked his head into the doorway, "I delivered it to the Lady Hokage."

Sasuke sighed, "Well, there goes my excuse for getting out of this situation." He then realized something, "Hey wait, who else is coming with us…besides Hyuga over there?"

Naruto began counting off his fingers, "Bushy brows, Sai and Shikamaru."

"Congratulations Naruto." Sasuke stated.

"Huh? For what?"

"For counting to three."

Naruto was about to lose his cool and start yelling, but saw Sakura's death glare and thought twice about it. "Let's just go." He finally said, throwing off his covers and jumped out of the bed. He quickly changed into his black shirt and pants, threw on his boots and slid on the arm covers that most ANBU wore under their arm guards. He left his plates off though, as he wasn't currently in hostile area.

He wasn't surprised to find Lee waiting out in the hallway with Neji. Though apparently Shikamaru and Sai were already waiting for them at Ichiraku's.

It took only about a minute to get to Ichiraku's (since they are fucking _ninjas_), and by that time, Shikamaru and Sai had already placed their orders. They all sat down, in order from left to right: Shikamaru, Sai, Lee, Naruto, Neji, Sasuke.

Naruto immediately began sucking the noodles in, slurping nonstop. He stopped only briefly to begin talking, "Alright, so on to our first order of business!" _Business?_ "Neji finally found the guts to ask Tenten out!" He declared, Neji and Sasuke spitting out their ramen in surprise (spit take!).

Neji turned to Naruto, "Why is this the first thing we talk about!?"

Naruto simply shrugged, Lee jumping in. "I congratulate you on your happiness!"

Sai nodded, "Yes, it's important to find a mate at a young age. Especially with declining birth rates." Neji glared at Sai, "Since you're glaring at me so intensely, I'll suppose that you haven't consummated the relationship yet?" Shikamaru, Lee and Sasuke spit out their ramen in unison, while Naruto nearly choked on it and Neji, who sat there still as stone.

"Okay, next topic." Shikamaru interjected.

Naruto nodded, "Okay, okay." He shook his head, muttering something about a killjoy. "I have reason to believe that Sasuke ogled Hinata!"

Everyone except for Naruto and Sai nearly choked on their ramen, Neji screaming "What?!" while Sasuke yelled "Bullshit!"

"I'm quite surprised that he actually know what ogled means." Sai stated. He got no attention as all of it was on Sasuke.

"It's true!" Naruto stated.

"What proof do you have of this?!" The Uchiha screamed back. Everyone turned their attention to Naruto, Neji and Sasuke seething.

"You were alone with her for several days!" He seemed to regret his decision when a pair of glowing red and vein-surrounded eyes stared down, seemingly into his soul. "Uh…"

.

.

.

Her sandals padded softly against the dirt road that led throughout the village, the warmth of the sun bringing a light smile to her face. She ran her fingers through her hair, tucking a few strands behind her ear. She was glad to be out of her ANBU gear and into her old gear: the purple jacket with white sleeves and hood, with the zipper that opened it up to the netting covering her upper body. She was wearing light blue pants with her kunai pouch tied to her right thigh, and finally she wore her headband around her neck and her dark blue sandals.

It had been three days since she had returned to the village, the last Uchiha slung over the saddle that she rode on. She had immediately told the Hokage – Lady Tsunade – about what had transpired. From finding Sasuke injured in the snow, to stealing a horse from inn after being attacked in their sleep. Her brother – though technically her cousin, but she prefers to see him as a sibling – had been sent to retrieve the scroll from Sasuke, seeing as he was also an ANBU and didn't need rest like her.

She sighed, having visited Sasuke in the hospital every day, but never seeing him awake. Though what really disappointed her was that she didn't get to see her crush, Naruto Uzumaki. She had thought that he would've visited the Uchiha, but if he did, they were never there at the same time.

"Come back here!" A familiar voice range throughout the air. She looked up to see Naruto running, a bowl of ramen in his left hand, chopsticks in his right, slurping it while he sped past her. She didn't have time to process what was going on while Sasuke and Neji ran past her as well.

She could do nothing but stare at their backs as her mind tried to piece together what had happened.

.

.

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"So?"

"So what?"

"Should we go help him?"

Sai chuckled at Shikamaru's question, "I think dickless will be fine. Besides, I'm not done eating. And honestly, I don't think that you would go through the trouble."

The porcupined shinobi sighed, "Yeah. Looks like you're starting to learn." He turned to look at Lee, "What do you think?"

"I think it is an interesting way of training."

Shikamaru stared at him in silence, "That's your excuse for not wanting to help, isn't it?"

"Just so."

"Hm…yeah, he'll be fine." Shikamaru swallowed a bit more ramen, ignoring the screams of mixed terror and pain that rang through the village from far away.

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**Alright, hope you enjoyed that. Next time: Sasuke and Hinata are sent out on another mission! ****Ideas and constructive criticism are encouraged, and any kind of flaming/spamming will be immediately ignored.**


	4. Chapter 4

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

The sun shone high up in the sky, beaming brighter than usual; Brighter, and hotter. Sweat dripped freely from the Uchiha's scalp as he trudged through the swamp, the only sound coming from him being a sigh of annoyance, as he had to stop for the umpteenth time to pull his shoe free of some sludge. He took a few steps and heard of grunt from behind him, and then the _plop_ that signified that Hinata's foot was also freed from the sludge. They were both fully geared up within their ANBU plates, and the black under shirts and pants. Their shoes had the addition of steel toe-coverings, to keep sludge from getting between their toes or becoming stuck to their skin.

The reason they weren't going from tree to tree was because, well, the trees were dead as they were, branches snapping if so much as a squirrel came onto it. They had learned this the hard way, when they had first attempted it, and ended up in a pile of sludge, their trip having been delayed for about an hour, so that they could clean themselves off.

Contrary to his suspicions, the Hyuga didn't slow Sasuke down at all. Even if she did normally, they were going at such a slow pace that a turtle could outrun them, spending most of their time having to go around quicksand, sludge pools and also backtracking and finding a different path when they met a dead end. _Just my luck; to get stuck on a mission that will arguably take days, just to get to the desired area, and to have to complete it with somebody else,_ He sighed. _Oh well, it could've been someone worse._ Though, even if there was – which he was pretty sure there were tons – the Hokage seemed bent on not giving him a choice. He sighed once again, remembering the briefing.

They had been summoned early in the morning, at the break dawn – which annoyed the Uchiha to no end. He could see that Hinata was struggling to stay up, just as he was – though he was hiding it better. Tsunade sat behind her desk, look more tired than either of the ANBU, but still she did her best to be professional. Though Shizune, who stood behind and to the left of the Hokage, was the main reason she was able to stay up.

Sasuke had his mask completely covering his face, while Hinata had it hang from the left side of her head, showing the right side of her face and the majority of the left. Sasuke stood with his arms crossed and right leg bent, while Hinata stood with arms straight down, her legs kept straight.

The first thing Tsunade had done was yawn before she began speaking, "Alright you two, listen up, because this is important." She tried to seem professional, but the two younger shinobi could tell that she was on the brink of another yawn. "We have reports that a band of renegades have been attacking nearby villages." Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, showing his annoyance. Even with the mask, Tsunade was able to see it. "Don't give me that look. Even though it sounds like it's a small thing, these renegades have killed several hundred people, with twice as many having disappeared without a trace. We suspect slavery. Now, we've been tracking them down for months, and now that we've finally found their hideout, I don't want any screw ups. So I'm sending you two. I want you two to free anyone you find, if in face, that is what these disappearances mean, and more importantly, I want every renegade dead or captured. Is that understood?"

They of course, being ANBU, couldn't disagree. So they gave a curt nod and left.

Sasuke sighed, raising his mask so he could use the back of his hand to wipe away the sweat that threatened to sting his eyes. "This is ridiculous." He muttered, getting no answer from Hinata. Though, it's not like he was talking to her anyway.

He stopped when he heard something crack and quick his sword, lightning-fast, to slice apart the branch that was about to the hit him. It hit the ground in two large pieces, though it was quickly taken by the sludge. The Uchiha continued walking, doing his best to keep the pace, even though he had to use extra force just to lift his foot, the sludge tearing off his boot like strips of flesh.

He began glancing back every once in a while to make sure that Hinata was keeping up with him – or perhaps it was so he had something to keep his mind occupied with, as he was almost consumed by the weariness that was overcoming the shinobi. He didn't know when the sun had set, or when the moon had risen. When Hinata had tugged at his shoulder to tell him that they should rest, or when he had lied down on a giant rock – with a flat surface – or even when he fell asleep.

He was woken up to some shaking. His eyes were heavy and strained, but he opened them to see Hinata's face, light streaming in from behind. She moved her head, which allowed the sun to freely shine light into his face. He sat up, "Dammit. I barely feel like I slept at all." He stated.

"We've been sleeping for hours, so I think we should keep going." Hinata got to her feet, waiting for Sasuke to get to his feet. He struggled to his feet and stretched before he jumped down from the rock, feet landing in sludge. He grunted, but continued walking after pulling his feet out. Hinata jumped from the rock after him, continuing to follow in silence.

They traveled for several more hours, the sun falling and turning into the break of dusk, until they finally found the building. It was decently sized, with metal walls and two large steel doors as the only entrance, with some high-placed windows large enough for a slimmer person to slip through. "Hyuga," Sasuke stated simply, Hinata activating her Byakugan.

"There are about fifty-six of them, all walking around freely, and all with enough chakra that we should be cautious. I don't see any kind of captives, though I do see one person who seems to be sealed off into their own room. They're sitting down, and seem to be sharpening a blade, so I assume that they're the leader."

Sasuke nodded at the analysis, "Alright, good. Remember, we go in quickly and quietly. We'll take out each one of them before we leave. I won't allow for anyone of them to escape alive."

"The Lady Hokage said to kill _or_ capture them." Hinata pointed out.

"I know what she said." The Uchiha's eyes glowed red as he jumped down, ending the discussion. The Hyuga sighed, jumping down after him.

They crept up to the complex, the darkness acting as their allies. Sasuke pointed up, indicating the windows, then scaled the building, gripping the window sill with his fingers. He silently slid the window open and squeezed through it, realizing that Hinata would be unable to. Then he shrugged and decided that she'd figure out her own way in.

Which she did.

Hinata used a kunai to unscrew the window sill, jumping down so that she could quietly place it in the grass. It took several minutes to do this, but she decided that it was worth it to get in unnoticed.

Sasuke hung from atop a beam, preparing some shuriken and wires. When he was sure that no one would see where the shuriken were going to come from, he threw them out in different directions, flicking his wrists so that the wires changed and directed the shurikens' paths.

They thudded into the ground and walls, making little punctures in the building, and little _thuds_, which alerted the enemies to their being there – though not to Sasuke's location. He pulled at the wires, finishing off the web of cord that he had created. The wires came up fast enough to slice through skin and bone, taking off limbs and still skinning the faster ones.

He counted about a dozen dead and three injured, and then he smirked. He let the wires fall when he saw that no one else was going to be caught in his web. His sword was drawn in the next moment, and he was gone from the beam. He landed behind a stack of cracks, landing as if he were a cat.

The renegades began circling around the complex, weapons drawn. He could practically smell the fear on them. When one came around the crates, he popped out and grabbed their collar, throwing them behind the crated and stabbing straight through their jugular. The man was able to let out a little squeak, which gained the attention of the others. So Sasuke ran from the crates, the movement gaining the attention of the other members. Within a moment he was surrounded.

_Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger,_ His hands flashed in a blur of movement, the next thing he knew he had already breathed out the fire that took out another small group of renegades. He would've used another jutsu, but the renegades didn't give him time, as they charged with blades forward. He ducked under a sword and lunged forward, sliding his own sword in between their ribs, dropping them.

The renegade gripped his sword, so he couldn't pull it out easily. Which meant that he had to leave it or get decapitated by a scythe, which came whishing for his neck? He got down into a low stance, waiting. When the scythe-wielder came at him, Sasuke took a step forward, coming in too close for the blade to hit him. He then kicked out, smashing his foot against their knee, snapping it and dropping them.

He rolled out of the way as an axe came down on him, barely able to get back to his feet before the axe-wielder was sent flying. The Uchiha turned around to see that it was Hinata who had sprung him through the air. "Took you long enough," He commented.

"The window was too small." Was all Hinata replied with, twisting on the balls of her feet and ducking as someone came at her with a sword. Her hand was ablaze with chakra as she smashed her palm into their gut, bones smashing and their chakra paths becoming blocked, which dropped him.

They fought on like this for several minutes, blocking, dodging and countering, dropping another renegade with each passing second. Once they were down to three Sasuke indicated the back room with his thumb, "Go take care of that one who you said was isolated. I can take care of these three." Hinata nodded, knowing that he could, running for the back room.

The Uchiha watched as the three renegades cautiously circled around him. One was largely built, with a shaved head and crooked nose and was carrying a large warhammer, while the other two were of a medium built, one male the other female. The male had light brown hair that seemed lopsided – probably cut it themselves – and then the female had long, black hair that fell down to their neck. The male carried a dagger while the woman carried around a short sword.

The Uchiha chuckled as the smaller male came at him first – with no backup. Sasuke went forward, smacking the dagger from his hand, and smashing his foot down on their toes, hearing the crunching of bones. He smiled as his fist flew into the renegade's face, breaking their nose and taking them down. Though, just for good measure, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and smashed it into his throat.

He rolled out of the way as the female came at him with a downward slash. He came up and grabbed her arm, twisted it around and took the blade from her hand. He then pulled his arm back and launched it, taking her head straight off. He turned to the large man, expecting him to attack next. But instead, he ran. The Uchiha sighed, putting the short sword into a reverse grip. He pulled his arm back and threw the blade, landing it straight into the large man's neck, his body crashing to the ground.

He turned around to see a larger man – whose clothes seemed to be a bit too small on him – come stumbling out of the room, gripping their chest as they stumbled towards the large, double-doors. Then the Uchiha realized where he had come from, _the back room._ The room he had sent Hinata to. He ran forward, dislodging his own sword from the corpse and ran up to the man. He barely saw him coming before his head flew from his shoulders and crashed to the ground with a resounding _splotch_.

With that done, Sasuke ran to the back room, taking in the sight. There was a broken crossbow bolt at the front of the room, a crossbow snapped in two, and Hinata lying on the ground, motionless. Panic struck as he ran over to inspect her. Thankfully, she was still breathing, but from further inspection, he saw that the plates covering her left breast had been pierced. He then heard something behind him and turned.

His Sharingan made it happen in slow motion. A snake had lunged at him, fangs bared and dripping with poison. His hand shot up, lightning quick, and grabbed the serpent when it was only an inch from his face. Without a thought, he crushed it and threw it out the door and into the main complex. He closed the door as his mind went through its process.

_Broken crossbow bolt, broken crossbow, venomous snake, puncture marks on Hinata and a man who stumbled out of the room, gripping his chest._ From what he could piece together it went something along the lines of this: Hinata had run into the room, just barely able to stop the bolt before it hit her. Before the man could reload, she had lunged and smashed his crossbow as well as damaging his chest. And then, before she could finish him off, the snake attacked. The man used that chance to escape into the hall, where Sasuke had killed him.

He didn't think about it anymore as he cleared off the desk in the middle of the room and put Hinata on it. He stripped off her plates and stripped off her undershirt. _Poison is one thing, but snake venom can be sucked out,_ He though hopefully. Hinata seemed to be aware of what was going on, but Sasuke paid no attention to her. The snake had bitten her left chest, only centimeters away from her nipple. He went down, doing what he had to, to save her life. His lips made contact first, apparently sending a shock through the Hyuga's body. The Uchiha paid no mind to this, as he continued. He began sucking out the venom, pulling away every few seconds to spit it out, when his mouth could hold no more. He had to do this three times before all he got was a little blood.

He backed up a little, giving Hinata some space. He was right about her awareness of the situation, and even though she was flushed, she was still able to mutter a "Thank you."

Now Hinata sat on the desk, arms crossed over her chest, doing little to hide what was now naked. For once his life, Sasuke finally seemed to notice the curves on her body, the sweat glistening from her body not really helping the situation. He had never before noticed her beauty, just like everyone else. "Hinata," He began, taking a step forward. She seemed surprised, because she flinched a little, but still he walked. His body was moving on its own now, the prideful Uchiha unable to control what he was about to do next.

"W-what?" Her question was soon answered when Sasuke put his hands on her waist and pulled her forward, pressing his lips against hers.

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**I would like to thank everyone who had reviewed (kind of sounds like I'm ending the story, but I'm not!), especially saya101, for pointing out that Sasuke doesn't use honorifics (which I have fixed in chapter 3 and am determined not to do in future chapters) and Jas Rey for confirming/emphasizing saya101's point. Now, as usual: ****Ideas and constructive criticism are encouraged, and any kind of flaming/spamming will be immediately ignored.**


	5. Chapter 5

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

"Hinata," His voice was different than usual, even she could tell that. He took a step towards her, and then another, and then another, coming ever closer. She felt, anxious, perhaps? Since it was the epitome of pride, Sasuke Uchiha, she doubted that he would do anything to her, yet…

"W-what?" He was so close now, within arm's reach even. She tried to scoot back, but too late. His hands were gently placed on her bare hips, softly bringing her forward. In the next instant, her body was pressed against his, their lips connecting, his arms wrapped firmly around her.

She felt his tongue slither into her mouth, playing around with her own tongue. He gently pushed her down onto the desk, so he was on top. She was able to slide her hands up to his shoulders, but when she tried to push him away, all she did was give him access to her breasts. His fingers traced up her body, one hand still on her waist while the other made its way to the Hyuga's chest.

_Why?_ He began fondling her, massaging her breast, fingers placed on her nipple, tracing circles with his fingertips. She let out a moan, unconsciously wrapping her legs around his. _Why does it feel so good? Why can't I stop him?_ He departed from her mouth to nuzzle at her neck, licking her collarbone. She shuddered. "W-wait," She was able to squeak out. Sasuke pulled back, staring straight into her eyes. "W-we shouldn't."

"Why?" That simple question stumped her. _Why? _"Is it because it's me; the traitorous Uchiha? Because it's not the rose-encircled dream that women have? Or…is it because I'm not Naruto?" The sudden quivering in her eyes told the Uchiha everything he needed to know. "I see," _Will he stop?_ He got up, untangling their legs. He headed for the door, to give her privacy to dress. Before he left though, "You know he won't ever see you in the light of beauty that I do, right?" The door closed, leaving Hinata to her thoughts.

And her tears.

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He began collecting the bodies, throwing them into a pile, so that he could burn them. He didn't really care, but if they were going to stay a day then he'd rather not have the stench of rotting corpses going through his nose. It also gave him something to do, so he didn't have to face the guilt-filled thoughts that bombarded his mind. He knew what he had said had been a little harsh, but she had to have known it. _Idiot, it was just your pride._ He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the thoughts. _You couldn't handle not getting what you wanted. You're pathetic._ When he had a pile of about a dozen corpses, he began burning them, going through the hand signs and basically spitting out fire.

_Why? It's not like I love her._ He grabbed two more bodies and threw them into the burning pile. _My urges simply overpowered me; that was all. Especially since I had to suck out the venom from such a place!_ Two more bodies, _Now I'll admit that she's got a pretty good body, but so do a thousand other girls who have thrown themselves at me._ One more body, _Maybe it was because I knew that I couldn't have her._

He spent the next hour collecting and burning bodies, not having Hinata, who had come out from the room, seated herself on a crate, and watched him work. _You would think that she wouldn't want to even see me._ Yet even so, she was staring straight at him, unwaveringly so. He sighed, sitting cross-legged in front of the burning pile of renegades. He didn't know why, but his eyes seemed to be drawn to the flames, _Just trying to find something to focus._

He sat there, watching the flames for several hours, the fire having a lot to burn. But eventually, after almost three hours, it died down, and all that time, Hinata sat over by the crate, staring straight at the Uchiha's back. It was nearly midnight when Sasuke flinched, hearing Hinata's footsteps, coming ever closer. _Oh, calm down you baby, she probably just wants you to apologize._

She stood straight behind him now, "Sasuke,"

"I'm sorry," He blurted out. "I know I shouldn't have said that." He saw in the corner of his eye that she sat down next to him.

"I know…that Naruto doesn't me that way. He chases after Sakura-chan, seeing me as nothing more than a friend. But, I still…" It sounded like she was about to cry.

And that filled the Uchiha with guilt – and a little annoyance. "He's not the brightest person, is he?" His question went on unanswered from the young heiress. "He charges in, without thinking of a strategy. He does whatever he wants without thinking about the trouble it causes other people. And, most importantly, he doesn't think about how other people feel." He turned to Hinata and placed a hand on her cheek, "Though, you know that better than anyone, don't you, Hinata?"

He wasn't sure if she fell asleep, or if she stumbled, but for some reason, she leaned into his hand and then onto his chest. He felt her shaking, so he wrapped his arms around her. _Okay, this is so unlike me. Wonder if that snake actually bit me, and this is all just an illusion._ He sighed, hoping that that wasn't the case; especially while he was staring down into Hinata's gentle face.

He lied down; Hinata curled up with him, head resting on his chest. He closed his eyes, darkness enveloping him as the embers from the fire burned down, leaving nothing but ashes.

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They had woken early and set out, trekking through the swampy murk that pulled at their shoes. She stared straight ahead, mask covering her features. The Uchiha walked a several feet in front of her, pushing against the trees. It didn't make sense really, the branches broke off so easily, but the trees were rooted in so deeply that they could be hit with a car and they still wouldn't fall.

She grunted as she pulled her foot out. It was more difficult for her, because Sasuke's foot formed a mold for the sludge to wrap around her feet more easily. She didn't bring it up though, for she didn't want to annoy him because of something small like that. And especially now, after what had happened, it was hard to speak to him. _"You know he won't ever see you in the light of beauty that I do, right?"_ His words rang in her head _It was probably just in the moment._

She stared at his back as they trudged through the swamp, noticing how broad his shoulders were. She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts as well as shaking off a bit of sweat that was going down her brow. Sasuke seemed to notice the motion, but he didn't turn around. "Something wrong?" He asked.

"N-no. J-just h-hot." That was the excuse that the Hyuga heiress would go with. Though Sasuke seemed to be content with the answer, because he answered with, "We have some water. Take a drink, it'll help." She nodded and did as he suggested, emptying a fourth of the water-skin before slipping it back into her pack.

They walked for several more hours – in silence – before they decided to rest, having found the flat rock they had slept on only two days ago. Even though it was flat and big enough to fit both of them, they had to sleep in the middle, or risk falling off; and that meant lying down right next to each other.

They slept with their backs turned, their packs lying next to them, so they had room to lie down. Sasuke lay there like a stone, but Hinata couldn't stop squirming, mind filled with too many thoughts to sleep. "I suppose an apology wasn't enough to calm you?" The Uchiha asked suddenly, apparently being just as conscious as her. "If you have something to say, then I'm willing to listen." He stated.

Hinata sat up, looking down at Sasuke's motionless body, "I've been thinking about what happened earlier," He retorted with a, "I know." But she continued. "And I've been a little…thought-filled, about what you said." Only when she finished, did he sit up himself and stare into her eyes, his gray pupils staring into her light-purple ones.

"I guess my answer will depend on whether those…thoughts were good or bad." He commented.

Hinata looked down, "Well…both. I'm sad that I'll never be with Naruto, but…I'm happy that someone sees me in such a way."

"You go unnoticed in the eyes of the one you love," He stated. "Just like how you go unnoticed in the eyes of just about everyone else. You're not someone who's often in the front line, so you never stick out. You're quiet and reserved, so you don't garner much attention. And finally," He cupped her face in one hand and lifted it, "You hide your beauty behind walls; your physical beauty behind walls of cloth and plates, while you hide your inner beauty with your reserved personality." He leaned in, "Though, in all honesty, I prefer someone like that."

A blush came over the Hyuga's face as she looked away, "But…"

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, "But, what?"

"Why me?"

"Why not? You're beautiful, kind, a skilled shinobi, who's very quiet, which emits an aura of…cuteness, perhaps? Or perhaps it's something else, I'm not too sure. I've never been good with this kind of stuff, so I'm going to have a bit of difficulty transferring my feelings." Her face was still cupped within his hand, so it was easy enough for him to lift it, their lips almost touching. "Though perhaps, it's just that these feelings are new to me. Perhaps they'll disappear in the next couple of days. Or maybe they'll stick around. Either way, I guess it doesn't matter if you don't, or _can't_, have the same feelings for me."

She stared straight into his gray eyes, feeling a tingling feeling within her chest. She placed her hand upon his and leaned in, nuzzling the Uchiha's neck as her eyes closed. He wrapped his arms around her, lying down with her on top, both of them falling into the realm of dreams.

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**Ideas and constructive criticism are encouraged, and any kind of flaming/spamming will be immediately ignored.**


	6. Chapter 6

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

They had spent the next three days walking in near silence, not sure how to begin speaking to each other again casually. Sasuke sighed when they finally saw the village, its huge gates looming ahead. They had checked in and immediately reported their success to the Lady Hokage. "It wasn't really that tough," He had commented, but Tsunade gave him a skeptical look – probably from the way they looked.

When they were finally able to exit, he stretched out, hearing a satisfying _pop_. "See you later, Hinata." He said awkwardly, beginning off to his home.

"Um, Sasuke?" He stopped and turned around, staring quizzically into her eyes, "I-I was just wondering what you, um…would like to do for your…birthday?"

The Uchiha seemed to be confused for a moment, but after a few seconds it clicked. _That's right, today would be July seventeen. Which means only another week until I turn twenty-one._ He shrugged, turning back around. "I just go out and train. To me, it's just another day." He explained before he continued walking.

His feet kicked up dust with every step; _I should really go take a shower._ He sniffed his arm, which only confirmed his assumption. _I swear I hate swamps; the trees were weak, and the sludge pulled at our feet, severely reducing our traveling speed._ Once he got home, he sighed as he entered the large building, always noting how it was too big for one person.

His footsteps echoed through the compound as he made his way to one of the many bathrooms. He stripped as soon as he entered, letting the murk-covered plates and cloth fall to the ground, _and I should really get those cleaned._ He stepped into the shower, turning the valves until the water was scalding hot. His consciousness receded into his thoughts as he began the process of cleaning the grime from his body.

_Can't believe it's been five years; five years since I teamed up with Naruto to take down Madara. I'm surprised six months of probation was all they gave me._ He chuckled at the thought, _Then again, Konoha has never been known for its competent governance. _His fingers ran through his hair, loose strands wrapping around them as he went. _And after that… _He snickered, _Even though Naruto whined so much, I was paired with Kiba, Shino and…Hinata._ He sighed as he picked up a bar of soap and began scrubbing his arms.

_At first, she was so timid; though Kiba tried to at least act friendly and Shino…well he was Shino. Our first mission was to go around the country of fire and find any remaining people who were connected to the Akatsuki or Madara. Even though I was the Genin among the group, I ended dealing with more of them, though Kiba said that the way I did it was "A little too brutal". _He began scrubbing the soap on his back as best he could before setting it down and turning the valves to shut off the water. He stepped out and began drying himself with a towel. Once he was dry, he walked out, not even bothering to wrap a towel around him, as there was no else within the compound.

_Though I have to admit, he was a decent enough tracker. But so were Hinata and Shino, now that I think about it. _He stepped into his room; it was small, with only a bed and a closet – but that was enough. He walked over to the closet and opened it, slipping on a pair of black pants, a long-sleeve black shirt and a pair of black shoes. He stretched, feeling more relaxed. _It took about two months before the situation had been deemed 'containable' and after that I had been stuck with that team. Though after another two months the Chunin exams had started up, and it had been no problem for me to pass it. That had also been when Naruto became a Chunin._

He decided that he hadn't eaten in a while and went downstairs, heading for the kitchen. _Another year and a half and over three-hundred successfully completed missions before I became a Jounin. _He opened his fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs and put them on a counter. _After that I strived to become an ANBU. Not sure why, now that I think about it, but probably because I wanted to be involved in the secrets of the village this time around._

He pulled out a pan and cracked several eggs, throwing the shells away after dumping the yoke into the pan. He turned on the stove and moved the pan onto it. He grabbed his pair of chopsticks and began twirling the egg yokes around in a circular motion. _Though Neji had become an ANBU about two months after I hit the rank of Chunin, so after I finally did make it, they ended up pairing me up with him quite a few times, so that I could "Have someone familiar around," though I know they were using him to keep an eye on me. _After several minutes, the eggs began to take shape.

_Not surprised that it took so long for them to trust me again. I mean, it's not like I'm an impatient person, and I could've been waiting for an opportunity to strike…though you'd think my assistance against Madara would've been enough._ Once the eggs were finished he turned off the stove and pulled out a bowl, dumping the eggs into it. He sat down at a table and began eating.

_Now that I think about it, I was an ANBU for about a year before Hinata became one, and her first assignment was with me…apparently for the same reason as when they paired me up with the other Hyuga._ He had finished his food quite quickly. With his stomach full, he got up and collected the dishes and walked over to the sink. He grabbed a sponge and turned on the sink, putting the dishes under the water as he began scrubbing.

_By my count, that was my thirteenth mission paired up with Hinata as an ANBU._ He put the dishes away before he decided that he'd take a stroll around Konoha. _Need to clear my head._

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Hinata's bare feet padded off of the smooth wooden floors, the sounds of Hiashi training with Hanabi ringing out from one of the large rooms. She couldn't help but peak inside, watching as the two traded blows, Hiashi obviously having the advantage. Hiashi seemed to be a bit more weathered, having bags under his eyes, but otherwise, he seemed unchanged. Hanabi, on the other hand, was taller, also being more filled out. Her legs were rounder and so was her chest, seeming to resemble Hinata when she was fourteen. Her hair was tied up so it didn't get in the way and she wore simple black pants with a black tanktop and a netting undershirt.

Hinata quietly closed the door, not wanting to watch. She sighed as she continued towards her own room. She silently shut the door behind her as she walked over to the closet and swung the door open, grabbing a clean netted shirt, a pair of loose pants and her jacket, which had recently been washed. She headed out of her room and went for a nearby bathroom.

She had to go past two occupied bathrooms before she got to a free one, where she walked in and locked the door behind her. She placed the stack of clean clothes on the ground and stripped, stepping into the shower and turning the valves until it was warm. _This house is too crowded._ She began running shampoo through her hair, enjoying the feeling of grime being washed off of her.

She began wiping her self down, her fingertips moving to where the snake had bitten her, the punctures almost completely gone. She smiled as she remembered how Sasuke had licked at her; then she blushed and shook the thought from her head before she continued washing herself down, grabbing the bar of soap and scrubbing herself.

She finished up and stepped out of the shower, turning off the water as she did so. She dried herself well enough before throwing on her clothes and brushing her hair, straightening it so it didn't look like a tangled mess. Once all of the tangles were out and Hinata thought she looked decent enough, she left the compound, wanting to walk around for a bit.

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The grass rustled as he sat down, cross-legged, in front of the tombstone. At the top sat Konoha's symbol, which was made to resemble a leaf. On the bottom of the tombstone sat the red-and-white fan that represented the Uchiha clan. Under the leaf symbol sat a name; _Itachi Uchiha_, and under that, was his life story. Sasuke didn't bother reading it, as he already knew the whole thing, hell he had _ended_ it. He sighed, staring straight at the name.

"I wonder what you would say about my situation," He stated. "Probably something about along the lines of 'it's natural' or 'you'll figure it out'." He snickered. "You never were really helpful with that kind of stuff, were you? No, that was just an act; a part you played. I wonder-" He heard footsteps behind him, and sighed, knowing who it was. "What do you want, Kakashi?"

"Oh, just taking a stroll through town, visiting old friends." He said this with his usual smile, though it was hidden behind his mask, "And it seems that you are too."

The Uchiha shrugged, "Just talking through my problems."

"I see," Kakashi turned around, "I would ask if you needed my help, but I already know your answer."

Sasuke smirked, "Right…get lost."

"Just like usual." Kakashi walked off.

Sasuke waited, listening to Kakashi's footsteps, until they disappeared. "I wonder if I should talk to him for once, just to see what kind of help he would provide?" He mused, but quickly snickered, dismissing the thought. "Yeah right." He stared straight into Uchiha symbol inlaid on the stone. He thought about how he had joined Naruto to defeat Madara, mixing his Chidori with Naruto's Rasengan to make an unbelievably powerful jutsu.

When Madara was down, the majority of the village seemed to have forgotten the majority of the things he did, but the council had disagreed and wanted him put to death. It was only thanks to Naruto, who was able to quickly rally the entire village against the two. Knowing that they had no control over the situation, they bargained for what they could get; six months of probation was what it came down to. And even that, Naruto agreed to begrudgingly.

"I really should thank him sometime, shouldn't I?" He got to his feet, "Well, I guess I'll talk to you later, Itachi." He turned on the heel of his foot and walked off, mind filled with thoughts of what he should do.

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Her eyes glazed over the town, cloak flapping. "So, this is where I'll him?" The crow sitting on her shoulder _squawked_ in response. She smiled, "I can't wait to meet him," Under the cowl, her left eye glowed red. "The last remaining Uchiha. Now I just have to find a way to draw him out. But how to do that?" The crow _squawked_ once again, putting a smile on the woman's face. "I see. That just might work. But, for now, watch him for a little while, and find out who this person might be." Once last _squawk _before the crow flew from her shoulders, flying over Konoha. She stared at the five statues carved into the huge cliff-side, frowning.

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**And here comes the conflict (in a few more chapters). Anyway; ****Ideas and constructive criticism are encouraged, and any kind of flaming/spamming will be immediately ignored.**


	7. Chapter 7

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

A crow cawed overhead, drawing the Uchiha's eyes towards the sky, squinting. _Do we usually get crows around here? _He didn't think so, but he couldn't be sure. He shook his head, a sigh escaping his lips, deciding that it probably wasn't a big deal. He continued on his way through the village, kicking up dirt as he went.

After visiting Itachi he never felt like going back to his empty house, so he always took a stroll through Konoha to clear his head, usually not returning home until the moon had set itself within the sky. The sun was still blazing high, so it was already decided that he was going to be out for awhile.

He passed through crowds of villagers, quite a few of them too indulged in their business to notice the Uchiha, so he had to maneuver out of the way of people a few times. He didn't become too annoyed with having to do so, as it was how Konoha was most of the time. Though he had to admit that it was a little more chaotic than usual.

To escape from the waves of people, he decided to enter the first shop that he was able to get to, not paying attention to what it was. The door swung open, ringing a bell, a cheerful voice greeting, "Welcome!" And lo and behold, it was Ino Yamanaka, staring blankly at the Uchiha. "Well, this is new."

The scent of flowers flew up Sasuke's nose, over three dozen colors of petals filling his sight. Oh dear god. He had accidentally entered the Yamanaka Flower Shop. "I, uh…" He couldn't think of a good excuse, seeing as why he had actually come in was pitiful.

She cocked her head, examining him. "Well, I'll take a guess and say that you're not going out on a date." She looked down at his pants, which had remnants of dirt laying on them. A sad look came into her eyes, "Seeing as you've already visited your brother, I also assume that you're not here for him. So…what do you need?" A few seconds of silence and she had her answer, "You came in her by accident, didn't you?"

Sasuke nodded, "I was…trying to escape from the crowds."

She nodded, "They have been going a little crazy thanks to that festival."

"Festival?"

Ino cocked her head, "For an all-knowing ANBU, you sure aren't informed about the village."

He scoffed, looking away. "A festival is not important enough to breach my attention."

A small smile played at her lips, "You just don't pay attention. Come on then, sit back here with me. We haven't talked in a while, and it'd be nice to catch up." He sighed, resigning himself to sit behind the counter – probably to stay out of customer's ways – and catch up with the flower-selling kunoichi.

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She had been swept up by the crowds, not even able to squirm out into a shop. When things finally did calm down enough for Hinata to slip out, she found herself at the entrance to a festival. Having nothing really better to do, the Hyuga heiress decided to check and see what it was about.

Stalls bordered on every side, creating a sort of road-system for people to follow. Every stall sold something different, from charms to trinkets to flowers to books to masks and even weapons. Even though everything was different the majority of the stalls were selling food and drinks – though no two stalls sold the same selection.

Hinata walked the isles, watching as people tried using a hammer to knock a piece of metal up a bar to smash into a bell, tasting the different foods that were offered to her, and even had her fortune told, saying that she'd soon find love – though it was probably fake and unreliable.

She found a stage with rows of benches placed in front of it. She took a seat for a show to quickly begin; a story of two lovers caught between a tragic war between their two families followed by a performance done by a group of dancers – which put her in a trance-like state. The next hour was filled with staged shows, time passing by quickly.

When the shows ended, Hinata got up and decided that she'd continue to explore and see what else was left to see. Her legs felt much better, having rested them – though they felt a little numb.

She passed by a stall, only glancing at it. She stopped though, when she saw a red fan with a white handle. She stared at it for a few seconds before picking it up. She knew the stall-owner was waiting patiently on her, so she decided to buy it and kept walking. "Should I take your interest in that fan as a sign of some kind?" A voice echoed from behind the Hyuga.

She was surprised, but thankfully, held back a shriek. She turned around to see Neji standing there, head cocked, as he examined the fan that she held within her hands. "N-Neji-Onii." She looked down at the fan and then back up at her cousin. She saw that he was waiting for an answer, but it only then just hit her, The Uchiha symbol.

"Well?" Hinata could easily tell that he wasn't angry or annoyed but just plain interested. Which made things a little easier.

"Um, well…" She couldn't really give an reason, for she didn't really have one. It was just done on a whim – which is what she went with. "I bought it…on a whim."

"I see," He didn't seem to buy the answer, but he shrugged, letting her know that he would drop it. "Well, whatever. Who you're into isn't really my business." A blush crept across Hinata's face – though it was only a shade of pink, as she had improved at not getting embarrassed so easily.

"T-that's not-"

Neji put up his hands. "It's fine. There's no need to convince me." He had small smile on his face, which told Hinata everything she needed to know.

He was teasing her. Then she thought of something, "Why are you here?" Neji used his thumb, pointing behind him. Hinata looked to see Tenten arguing with a stall-owner who had burnt the food he was selling. "Oh."

Neji turned around, "Speaking of which, I'd best get back to her before she gets a free snack." He started walking, leaving Hinata alone in the sea of people.

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Sasuke sighed, walking through the stalls. He had spent the last two hours talking with Ino, until Shikamaru came and asked her to go to the festival with him. She had apologized, but she had to either close the shop or keep him there at the counter – and he really sucked at that kind of stuff. He decided that he'd check it out to see what was so great about the festival.

Which, from what he could tell, was nothing. To him it was like any other festival. Though, it was a festival, so he bought some food, drinks and watched a show or two. He didn't really care for the stories, but he decided that it would pass the time.

The scripted words were repeated as they were most likely rehearsed, and it didn't help that they were so boring to the Uchiha. He sighed, trying to pay attention - and failing.

Once the shows ended, he decided that he'd had enough for the day and stood, heading for the entrance which would soon become an exit for the shinobi.

Or it was supposed to be, until he saw Hinata Hyuga walking through the crowds, heading in the same direction as him. Towards the exit. _I wonder what kind of day she's had._ He decided to creep up behind the kunoichi and spotted the red-and-white fan in her hands. He found it to be nothing more than a coincidence.

And that still didn't top him.

He placed a hand on her head, "Hey." He said in a tone that was just a bit too dark to be considered a kindly greeting. He noticed that she shuddered before turning around, and letting out an exasperated sigh. "I suppose that you're day hasn't gone too well?" She didn't usually get upset, but when she did, you knew that something was wrong.

Hinata seemed to calm down quick enough, but Sasuke was up on his toes now - though not literally. She shook her head, "My day was fine. You?"

He couldn't say the same. So he shrugged, "I've had worse." Though he could say that about any day where his entire family wasn't killed. Though she seemed fine with the answer and didn't take it any farther.

"Were you leaving?" Hinata asked, apparently having noticed which way he had come from.

He shrugged yet again, "A festival just isn't fun, or even...memorable, if there isn't someone else with you." He stated simply, which seemed to spark something in the Hyuga's head, because she asked: "Would you like to try everything out with me?"

He could tell that she meant as friends, for she didn't even stutter or blush when asking. He sighed, "Might as well, sure." With that, the two shinobi were once again wading through the crowds to try out the attractions as before.

Though, this time, it was different. With someone to share opinions and experiences with, it was more...rewarding, perhaps? Whatever you would call it, it was enjoyable. After trying out the different food and drinks, seeing the shows and playing the games, the two ended up walking side-by-side, each with dango within their hands, each sharing their opinions about the shows.

The two were enjoying themselves, their moods lifted from earlier. That was, until they bumped into what could currently be considered the worst encounter of the day.

For Hinata anyway.

Naruto and Sakura stood side-by-side, smiles on their faces. The surprise on the two kunoichi's faces were prevalent, even though they tried to hide it.

"Oh, hey...Hinata-chan...Sasuke-kun." Sakura greeted awkwardly, guilt in her eyes as the green gems made contact with the Hyuga's purplish stones.

"H-hi." Hinata was able to squeak out, Sasuke not sure what to say of the encounter.

"Hey teme!" Naruto greeted, "I didn't think that you were one to go to these kind of things," He then turned to Hinata, "And with Hinata-chan, no less."

"No, that's-" Sasuke began.

But Naruto promptly interrupted him, "So, how's you ask her? Did you act all cool and quiet as usual, or did you take a different approach, since it was Hinata?"

"Dobe, listen-" He tried to explain.

But was cutoff once again, "Me? Well, I marched straight up to Sakura and curtly asked, 'Will you go to the festival with me?' and with her schedule decently empty for the day, she agreed."

The Uchiha sighed, knowing that the idiot wasn't going to listen at all. He glanced over at Hinata, who he could see, was caging up all of the emotions that were building up within. He glanced back over to his two former-teammates and made eye-contact with Sakura, who simply shrugged, not knowing how else to respond.

Naruto ended up talking nonstop for the next ten minutes before Sakura stopped him, pulling him away, using the excuse of 'not wanting to miss any of the shows'. The Uchiha watched as they walked off before turning to Hinata.

Who was plainly on the brink of tears. As quickly as he could without looking suspicious, he grabbed the Hyuga's hand and led her from the festival.

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She barely knew what was happening as she was led from the festival towards who-knows-where. She could feel warm tears filling within her eyes as the thought of Naruto together with Sakura - and not her - filled her with dread.

When they finally stopped, she quickly looked around to see that were surrounded by trees; water from a nearby waterfall crashing into the pool below. "No one should be around. No one will know if you cry." Those simple, uttered by the prideful Uchiha, were all it took to take her to her knees, the tears coming out like the waterfall in front of them.

She felt his arms wrap around her as she was pulled into his chest, her tears dampening his shirt. Fingers gently ran through her hair as her sobbing was caressed out of her.

Within minutes the tears ran dry, and all that remained was the choking sobs; which even then didn't last much longer. And even after she had stopped, she didn't try to remove herself from his embrace. She just stayed there, on her knees, in his warm embrace.

She didn't feel like moving, nor did she feel like being alone again. "Please don't leave." Hinata whispered as she felt the Uchiha's hold lighten. He responded to her plea, sitting down on the damp grass, tightening his embrace.

Together they sat like this, never separating, even as the moon rose and they fell asleep.

Or even when the crow flying overhead let out a long _squawk_.

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**Well, since we're all still alive, I guess I'll update.  
**

**My apologies if there were any grammar/spelling mistakes. I just got a new computer, and the keyboard is _fucked up_.**

**Finally, I'm sorry if it came out a bit rushed. I'm not very good at spacing. I also apologize if the characters were out of character at all, but you know what it's a different timeline and it's my story, so if you don't like it you can _eat my shit_!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

Softly-padded shoes bounded off from branch to branch, the masked figures almost flying through the air. The red-eyed pride glanced behind him to make sure that the prodigy was keeping up. Without thinking, the Uchiha sped up, wanting to complete this mission as quickly as possible. Though he wasn't sure exactly why that was. His conclusions didn't really make any sense, as nothing had really changed since his last assignment.

Well, except for his current partner arrangement. He had been paired with a Hyuga yes, but not the one that he was accustomed to. He didn't have a problem with Neji or anything, but the so-called prodigy had a tendency of well, not talking about trivial matters. And for some reason, even though he used to prefer that, it now annoyed him to no end. Perhaps it was because of who he'd been paired with in the past so often before, or that the quiet was just driving him insane. Either way, he wanted to finish this petty assassination job so he could be with _her_ again.

Over a month since the festival ended, and Hinata and the Uchiha had become much more acquainted with eachother. Seeing eachother almost everyday, releasing their problems and complaints upon one another, just so that they could relax once again. Compared to Hinata, Sasuke had a very small amount of complaints, as he had already gone through his miseries. Though that didn't stop him from listening and consoling her at every turn, giving the advice that he had to offer. Some of it helped, some of it didn't. But it was the words that did help that Hinata seemed to remember, which Sasuke was grateful for, as he didn't want his mistakes thrown back into his face at every opportunity.

Of course people began to form their suspicions of what was going on, but they simply ignored it. They continued talking, ignoring any threats or warnings from Hiashi. Within two weeks everyone had gotten used to the idea of their meetings, though now it was more rumors than suspicions, as nobody had ever successfully spied on them talking. Sasuke was sure that every Hyuga had seen but none had heard - or so he was confident of thinking.

Neji's behavior hadn't changed at all, so Sasuke was pretty sure that he didn't really care. But even so, he always kept an eye on everyone that even seemed to be connected to Hinata in some personal way. That included Neji, unfortunately.

It didn't really matter at the moment thought, for they were on an important mission, and the village came before personal matters - especially when you're an ANBU.

Sasuke decided that it'd be best to focus on the mission specifics at the moment, for a mistake could mean his life. First of all, he slowed down so as not to be as easily noticed, incase there were enemy scouts up ahead. Secondly, he began processing the specifics of the mission. An enemy informant who was suspected of obtaining Konoha secrets. If this was true, then they were to kill him and return the information to the Hokage. If he didn't have it, then they would just report back to Konoha and get back to their normal duties.

Even though they were expecting it, they never spotted a single scout nor human, for that matter. This raised their suspicions, so the two shinobi activated their Kekkei Genkai, their eyes changing shape and color while the other's was suddenly surrounded by veins, though the mask covered it.

Branches rustled as the two ANBU flew from tree to tree, heading for the little shack that was reportedly their target's base.

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Her hands flew through the air, striking the wooden post with shocks of chakra; ranging from small and precise to large and spread. Sweat ran down her brow as she practiced, completely surrounded by silence. Water sped down into the pool of water nearby, the trees rustling as the wind blew. Her breathing was heavy, her concentration completely on the wooden post in front of her.

A crow _squawked_ above, Hinata immediately rolling out of the way as steel flew over her head. She was back on her feet within a moment, already in her stance, her focus having completely switched over to her attacker.

A cloak was draped over her lean shoulders, sword in hand. Under her cloak she was wearing black, skin-tight shorts and knee-high boots made of leather. She was also wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, an arm warmer covering her left form around, extending into a type of glove. The Hyuga saw red strands of hair falling from the cowl as well as a steal band covering her right eye. "Who are you?"

The Hyuga's question went unanswered as the cloaked figure charged, sword pointed forward. It wasn't too hard for Hinata to dodge the attack, simply spinning on her heel and smashing a chakra-filled palm into her attacker's spine. She crashed to the ground, bringing up a cloud of dust and dirt.

Hinata felt like something was wrong. The girl moved with speed and precision, which was how she was able to get so close to killing her. But that last move seemed sloppy and there were alot of wasted movements that came along with it. Then it happened.

The assailant's body had disappeared, a whistling sound flying through the air, alerting Hinata and giving her enough time to spin around and grab the blade between two fingers. _A genjutsu._ She realized. Her swing was light, yet quick. It seemed that she was relying on the sharpness of the sword to do damage instead of her own strength.

Which, against a Hyuga, was a mistake. She shifted her weight, jolting her wrist and allowing an explosive shock wave of chakra to shoot from her fingers, shattering the blade. The one-eye woman seemed unaffected by this though, as within the next moment, she was crouched on the ground, leg sweeping.

Hinata went down, but gracefully found her balance, for her hands slammed into the ground and she twisted, legs swinging. He knee smashed into the woman's face, knocking her back and giving the Hyuga enough time to jump on her, fingers at her throat. Chakra vibrated from her fingers, acting as a saw, hovering mere centimeters from the cowled woman's exposed neck. "Who are you?" She stared straight into the woman's face when she asked, but was greeted with a shocking realization. Her body suddenly became numb, her mind darkening, "That's-" She crashed to the ground, unconscious.

The woman sat up, cowl down at her shoulders. Her right eye glowed a brighter red than her hair, which currently fell down in bunches of bloody beauty. "Nighty night, my sweet bait." The crow _squawked_ before diving down and landing gently on the girl's shoulder. "Good work, my black-feathered beauty." The _squawked_ one final time.

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A chill ran down his spine, and he could see that it had to the Uchiha as well. "Did you feel that?" He asked, stopping on a large branch that easily supported both their weight. The Uchiha nodded in response. "It felt...ominous." That word didn't even describe the dread that had suddenly come over him.

The Uchiha shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his face a blank slate behind the mask. "I don't know what it was, but...we'll just have to let it pass and continue on with the mission." The words were strained, Neji could easily tell. "Come on." Without another word the Uchiha was off, the Hyuga prodigy deciding that he was right and quickly following.

For the next several hours the two went flying through the maze of trees, in silence. they both felt that something was wrong, but they both also knew that they couldn't return before completing their mission; for they ANBU, the elite group of assassins - who seemed to always turn up dead.

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The two ANBU loomed over the old shack that was used as their target's base. Sasuke felt anxious about finishing this job and heading back to the village. He had felt the same feeling of dread that the Hyuga prodigy had and felt - no, _knew_ - that something was wrong. But he also knew that as an ANBU, he couldn't return to the village without completing their mission first.

So, with the purpose of returning to Konoha as quickly as possible, they leapt down, landing quietly within the grass. The moon hid their approach, feeling lucky that they had made it just as the moon had set. The Uchiha had a sword in his hand the next moment, the Hyuga going in bare-handed.

They crept up to the door, Neji's byakugan picking up how many people were inside. "Six," He stated. "And then there's an underground complex, the entrance hidden under a few floorboards." Sasuke nodded, taking position in front of the door. "Hold still, there's one coming for the door."

The Uchiha placed his left hand on the door, right hand tucked to his side, blade pointed forward. He heard a small rattle, recognizing it for the doorknob. The moment it was turned, he striked. His right arm shot forward, his sword stabbing through the door and meeting resistance - _fleshy_ resistance. He pulled, blood coming out with his sword. He then kicked the door, flinging it across the shed, and jumped back.

Neji stepped into the room, launching five shuriken, each one striking down their foe. Sasuke stepped into the room behind the Hyuga, looking at the room. "Wouldn't expect it to have a complex underneath, would you?" The Uchiha was able to get out, not really caring about what was under the shed, but trying to seem unconcerned.

Neji nodded, walking over to some newer-looking boards and lifting them up, revealing a tunnel with a ladder bolted into the side. "Let's go." He stated, jumping straight down, arms crossed over his chest to better fit.

The Uchiha sighed, "Well, that's new." He followed suit, jumping down with arms crossed over his chest. He fell for a good minute, dreading the climb back up. He landed on a steel-tiled floor, Neji crouching behind a few boxes nearby. The Uchiha went down next to him, "What do you see?"

The Hyuga grit his teeth, "Sixty-seven of them."

Sasuke grinned, "Easy enough." He stated confidently. "I'll go around and we can sandwich them between our attacks. Neji nodded, giving Sasuke all the sign that he needed to actually sneak around to the other side of the complex. From what he saw, it was like some kind of storage facility. Screaming instructions at all of the workers was a large man with beady eyes with a hooked nose, bald head and a four-pronged star-shaped scar right between his eyes, almost making a frame. _He_ was their target.

Once he was across from Neji, he began weaving his signs. He popped out from his cover, having taken a deep breath. He spit out a large fireball that went crashing through the complex. He couldn't see what the Hyuga had done, his jutsu having blocked out his view, nor did he have time to figure it out, as a large piece of steel came flying from the smoke.

The Uchiha drew his sword and slashed, cutting the steel in two, immediately stabbing forward as to ward off the large man with the four-pronged scar on his face. The large man jumped to the side, pulling out a scroll. He opened it and ran his index and middle fingers across the text, summoning up a large, two-handed sword. "You're going to regret coming here, you bloody shinobi!" The large man declared in a heavy accent.

Deciding that he didn't have the time to fool around with the likes of this idiot, Sasuke wrapped his blade with lightning. He rushed forward, red eyes glaring straight ahead. The large man charged, bringing his sword above his head. He brung it down with the force of a bull, aiming for the Uchiha's head.

Completely ignoring the over-compensating blade, Sasuke slashed, hitting his target's left knee. It sliced through flesh, tissue, meat and bone, completely taking the bottom half of his leg off. He fell to the ground...

Screaming.

Completely forgetting about the information, Sasuke took the man's head off deciding, "No one lives." He turned to see that the rest of them were either burned, smashed or simply beaten to death, with Neji Hyuga standing among them. He turned around to Sasuke.

"Let's go." He turned around and headed for the tunnel they had dropped from. The Uchiha sighed, sheathing his blade and following the Hyuga as he went up the tunnel, grabbing the rungs that would take them back to ground level - and eventually to Konoha.

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**Ah, it's been awhile since I've done an actual fight scene! I feel refreshed. Anyway, please tell me how I did!**


	9. Chapter 9

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

"Hinata is _missing_?!" They had rushed back to the village in haste to report their success - still feeling like something had been wrong - and this is what the two ANBU were greeted with; the news that Hinata, heir to the Hyuga clan, was missing. Sasuke grit his teeth, regretting his decision of not sending Neji back to Konoha.

Tsunade sighed, "Unfortunately, yes. I already have several men searching for her, though I'm not sure how much that'll help, as she's seemed to have disappeared without a trace." She had a pretty good idea of what their responses would be, and they didn't disappoint.

"Let me go look for her!" The two ANBU yelled at once, a fierceness in their eyes that the Hokage hadn't seen in a long while.

She responded with a nod, "That was exactly my thought. Neji, I want you to go through the area surrounding Konoha and use your byakugan. This will give us a wider range of sight. I've already sent several Hyuga's to go searching for her; which is why I want you, Sasuke, to go the opposite direction of Neji, using your sharingan. That will dispell any illusions and allow you to track her down more easily."

Sasuke nodded, knowing that she was right.

Tsunade nodded, "Spread out!" Within that next moment the two shinobi disappeared from the room, heading to the borders of the village to look for the Hyuga's heiress.

The two ANBU separated as soon as they left the village's barrier, Sasuke going clock-wise around while Neji went counter-clock-wise. Sasuke's sharingan was beaming brightly as he searched for any sign of Hinata. He had no clues of her whereabouts or about how long she had been missing - probably should've been something to have asked about, but it was too late now.

Then something caught his ear; a _squawk_ that echoed throughout the air. He stopped to see a crow flying above, flying off when it noticed that it had been spotted. Sasuke decided that he'd follow, as he'd seen that crow too many times recently for it to be a coincidence.

He waded through three miles of trees before the crow finall departed down into a clearing. The Uchiha appeared from the forest to see Hinata tied up to a tree.

Unconscious.

He jumped down into the clearing and went to go untie her, knowing that it would be a trap. He drew his own sword to block the oncoming strike from behind, "Who are you?" He was able to ask before she flipped over him, stabbing down with her sword. He parried it and kicked, foot slamming into her ribs and sending the girl flying. She flipped, feet landing softly on a tree trunk. She quickly weaved several signs with her hands, the water immediately draining from the tree she had hit.

It bunched up into a large ball in front of her before she weaved several more signs and its form changed into a dragon, flying straight for the Uchiha. _Water style. _He jumped to the side, the water dragon flying past. As soon as the head was past, Sasuke wrapped his sword with the chidori and stabbed into the jutsu, running as he did so; straight for the mysterious hooded girl.

He slashed as he neared, cutting the tree behind her in half. The blade now rested next to her neck, and he asked again. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled under her cowl, "Someone you shouldn't underestimate." From his left another tree was dried up and over a dozen claws of water shot out to grab him. He jumped back, slashing at the girl as he did so. All he was able to do was cut her hood a little, but otherwise he missed,

But he also got out unscathed.

Or at least until three more trees dried up behind him and two huge arms closed around him. He tried to shrug his way out, but the water was constantly changing; keeping him locked up tight.

The girl strode over to him, hips swinging as she did so. "You know, for being such great shinobi, you're not that strong." She saw the defiant look in the Uchiha's face and smirked, "What? Angry? Frustrated? Disappointed?"

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked once again.

Slowly shaking her head, the girl answered. "My name, is Satsuki Sumino." She got right up into his face and took down her hood, letting her red locks fall. "And I, require your eye." Immediately her right eye began glowing red, three tear-drop pupils spinning around on a ring around the pupil.

Sasuke grit his teeth, "Why do you have that?"

Satsuki grinned, "I looted a corpse."

The nonchalance in her voice angered Sasuke even further, _Control your emotions._ "So if you already have one, then why do you need mine?"

She sighed, shaking her head, "Unfortunately, this one is only the basic kekkei genkai. I want the complete sharingan. And I heard that out of the remaining two, yours is stronger. Besides," She pointed at the metal band over her left eye, "I lost the other one."

"So you kidnapped Hinata, just to drag me out?"

Satsuki nodded, "Yep!" It startled with a chuckle, and then a full-blown laugh, which took the girl by surprise. "W-what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"You're an idiot!" The Uchiha declared.

"What? You're the one who's trapped!"

Sasuke looked up, "You think _this_ can hold me? Hah!" Immediately his body discharged with lightning, destroying the claws and throwing the girl to the ground - though she rolled and quickly got to her feet. Sasuke was now free, sword in hand. "Now then, now that I know what you want, I won't regret killing you."

She grit her teeth, "I'll kill you an take those eyes of yours; you just wait."

The two clashed, swords in hand; steel banging against steel. Satsuki stabbed, Sasuke parried. Sasuke slashed with an overhand lunge, Satsuki spinning on her heel and twisting out of the way. Releasing a flurry of slashes; overhand and underhand cuts, most dodged, but several hitting, rewarding him with some blood splashed onto his clothing. Though he quickly lost this ground as spikes of water suddenly came out from the ground, dead and barren grass being what was left.

The Uchiha jumped out of the way; first flipping backwards, then rolling to the left and then to right and then a quick hop back before he charged, sword point forward. Satsuki twisted, slashing upward, hitting the tip of Sasuke's blade; using momentum to throw it upward.

But now she was defenseless, as her sword was also in the air.

The Uchiha's muscles screamed as he slammed the sword down, pommel first. It smashed into the one-eyed girl's nose, bruising and bleeding it. She fell to the ground screaming, gripping her nose; tears falling from her eyes.

Sasuke now stood over her, anger blazing within his eyes. He raised his sword, and slashed.

But before he made contact, Satsuki threw her arms up, a flurry of several dozen water spikes and claws shooting from the ground. They pierced and threw him, smashing the Uchiha into a tree; and pinning him there. Then before he release himself, the spikes and claws froze. Tree after tree dried up as more and more claws pinned him and more spikes stabbed him. He spit up blood, his head going blurry.

"You're quite troublesome, aren't you?" She strode over to the trapped Uchiha, "Now, you could just give me your eyes and be done with it. I promise not to kill you if you go quietly and I'll even let the girl live."

Sasuke bared his bloody teeth, "_You_ dare show _me_ pity?" His eyes morphed, spinning into a different shape. A purple aura began surrounding him, "And you dare assume that I'll let you live after taking Hinata?"

"Wait, is that," Her ice was shattered and her water was broken apart, soaking into the nearby grass. "Susano'o?"

Sasuke stood, surrounded by the great skeleton puppet known as Susano'o. The left arm shot out and grabbed the girl, raising her into the air. "I am Sasuke Uchiha. Last of my clan. The one who took control of the ten-tailed biju and defeated Madara Uchiha. I have even brought the dead back to the living world! I alone control the Susano'o and and hold the most powerful sharingan in the world within my sockets! If you thought for even a moment that you could defeat me, then you severely overestimated yourself!" With a simple gesture Susano'o threw the one-eyed girl into the ground. "You do not deserve to hold the sharingan, nor do you deserve to hold a Hyuga as a hostage!" Another slam from Susano'o; and another, and another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Before he knew it, Sasuke was smashing a mushed and beaten corpse, a gusher of blood spilling into the ground with each movement. When he realized what he was doing, he had Susano'o disappear, the girl falling to the ground. He would've fallen to his knees if it weren't for the fact that his legs had locked up on him. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity, his breaths coming out in rushed gasps as he tried to gather himself.

When finally he regained his senses, the sun was already setting. He turned to see that Hinata was still unconscious, _Wait. I never actually checked to see if she was okay! _Immediately he sprung into motion. He had dropped his sword when he was pinned to the tree, so he just used a kunai. He cut Hinata's bindings and laid her down on the now-barren grass. He placed his ear to her chest and held his breath. It felt like an eternity before he heard a _thump_, and he was able to breathe easily again.

He sat down on the ground and leaned back down on the tree that Hinata had been tied up to and laid her head on his lap, stroking her hair wit his fingers. She seemed to be at peace, her chest slowly going up and down as she breathed.

_I need a vacation._

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**Y'know, I was thinking of ending this soon, but then I thought; _Hey wait! There isn't nearly enough romance in this story for me to contemplate ending it yet!_ So I'll be continuing this for quite awhile longer. Thanks for everyone who has supported me so far!  
**

**Merry Christmas!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

Her eyes opened to the sight of her raven-haired friend's face. She could feel that he was running his fingers smoothly through her hair. He noticed her gathering consciousness and now stared down at her, a gentle smile on his face. "Morning." He greeted.

Hinata smiled and raised her hand to his face and caressed his cheek, "Morning, Sasuke." Even though she was happy to be lying within the Uhiha's lap, she still had concerns. "Why am I like this?" She didn't even mean just the position, but the screaming headache she had acquired.

Sasuke chuckled, "Nothing that need be your concern anymore."

"Is that the reason for the blood?" The Uchiha's eyes shot open as he looked down at himself; covered in fresh and dried blood alike. "It quite stinks." She stated, which made the Uchiha laugh. She could only smile at the joy in his laughter.

"Good to see that you two are alright and enjoying yourselves." The familiar turned Sasuke's laugh into a scowl; and Hinata couldn't blame him. Sai had a way of making everyone around him angry.

"What do you want?" Sasuke got straight to the point, not wanting to drag out the exchange anymore than needed.

"Oh, how mean. You seem fine with me when we're with the guys, so why is it that when it's you and..." A light bulb might as well have appeared above his head, "Oh, I see. My apologies for disturbing you, but I must remind you that you must escort Hinata back to Konoha so that she can safely return to her family. Well then, I'll see you at Ichiraku's sometime with the others." Within that next moment, Sai disappeared from view, most likely heading back to report to Tsunade.

Sasuke sighed, "Well, I hate to admit it, but he's right. We have to report back." To Hinata's enjoyable surprise, the Uchiha picked her up bridal style before jumping off through the trees, ignoring the crow that _squawked_ behind them.

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Neji sighed with relief, leaning on a wall, watching as Sasuke gave his report to the Lady Hokage. He talked about the one-eyed shinobi with the sharingan, a guess on how Hinata was knocked unconscious - an illusion, if you want to get into details - and how he had taken her out. He seemed to give enough information to get the point across, but left it vague enough that you couldn't imagine the ordeal in detail.

Hinata stood next to the blood-covered Uchiha, not a scratch on her. _Not too harsh of a kidnapper, this Satsuki. _Sasuke finished giving his report and left, Hinata leaving with him. "Those two seem to be closer than they should be, don't they?" Neji heard Shizune ask. He could only reply with a shrug, not really sure how to respond. It really didn't matter to him who she spent her time with; though he was a bit surprised when he first thought that the two spent most of their days in the village together.

Tsunade put her hand up to her mouth and yawned, "Does it really matter? It just means that Sasuke is more protective over Hinata. And their both ANBU and part of high-ranking families; so there's no reason they shouldn't." Shizune looked worried - probably still untrusting of Sasuke. _He helped us defeat Madara and has been with us for the past five years, yet a lot of people still don't trust him. Can't really blame them though. At one time he did want to destroy the village._

With nothing left to do, Neji left.

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Her fingers were light, barely feeling them as she skimmed his body for injuries. She found dozens of exits for the blood and even stated that it was a miracle that he hadn't bled-out. Sasuke simply shrugged, which got him a warning to get the injuries closed. And now here he sat; shirtless in the Hyuga manor as Hinata wrapped bandages around him. First she had cleaned the injuries, wiping the dried blood off and then gave him some clean clothes - though he was pretty sure they were Neji's.

He was surprised that she was able to do this without pause, though perhaps it was because he was actually in danger of bleeding out. He didn't want to worry her, but his he had felt light-headed for quite a while now. He felt better after drinking a supplementary drink, though; and that's what he was given.

He noticed that the members of the Hyuga clan were all giving him suspicious looks - probably worried about Hinata - except for her father, who acted strangely calm around him. Even Hinata said that that was weird. Either way, he was pretty sure that every Hyuga who had heard of his entrance was currently watching him with their byakugans - or he was being paranoid and everything was fine.

Once she had finished bandaging him up, he threw on the clothes she had given him; a pair of loose black pants and a loose, long-sleeve black shirt. He stood and began stretching, loosening up his muscles. Hinata watched in silence as he did this, sitting on her bed, feet on the ground. Once he finished, he saw Hinata scoot over a little on her bed and pat the area next to her.

He walked over and gently sat down on the left of the Hyuga girl. "Um, Sasuke?" The Uchiha turned, staring into the Hyuga's blushing face. "Um, I want to thank you for saving me, and..." She began fumbling with her fingers.

Sasuke sighed, "It was no trouble, really." She turned to look at him. "You're my teammate, and a good friend. It's only natural that I would come to your rescue." Her blush lightened, and a smile came to her face. "Now then, I don't mean to be rude, but I feel like I'm being watched by your house."

She nodded, "They're very protective."

Sasuke got to his feet, "Well, I best be going then. I'll make sure to return the clothes after I've washed them."

"Um, I'll...see you out." Sasuke shrugged, and the two of them headed for the gate to the Hyuga manor. It took about three minutes, since they were walking, and had to pass by almost every room in the building, before they finally made it to the gate. Sasuke turned around to say his farewells, but was actually greeted by a pair of soft lips on his cheek. He stared in bafflement as Hinata lowered herself back down, having stood on her toes to reach him. "Thanks again, Sasuke. I'll see you tomorrow?" The only response he was able to get out was a slight nod. Hinata smiled and turned around, skipping back into her house.

Sasuke watched as the Hyuga heiress left his sight, and immediately felt a thousand death glares pierce into him. He left, too busy with the memory of Hinata's lips to care much about what her family thought.

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Hinata was glad that she was able to gather the courage to kiss him, but now she sat within her father's presene, in silence. The air was tense and the room felt stuffy. "Hinata, we must talk." She knew that a lecture was to come; along with an order to stay away from Sasuke.

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**I know; short chapter. But this one is moreover setting up for the future chapters.**


	11. Chapter 11

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

The sun rose high within the sky, streaming straight into Sasuke's face. He groaned as he threw the blankets off of him, feeling a lot groggier than usual. He methodically undressed and went to go take a shower. He opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water to his usual scalding hot. The heat woke him up as the water washed off all of the grime.

After several minutes of scrubbing, he turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing a towel to dry himself off. Once dry, he threw the towel on the ground, left there to be picked up and cleaned later. He stepped out into the hallway and went back to his room. He opened his closet and pulled a pair of black pants with a long-white stripe going down the sides of each leg and a black long-sleeve shirt with the Uchiha fan on the left sleeve close to the shoulder. He slipped his shoes on, tightening them before he left.

The cool air hit him like a fan on a summer day, though it was technically summer, but whatever. He walked through the courtyard and stepped through the gate, deciding to walk around town.

It felt great finally having a day where he wasn't trudging through swamps, jumping through miles of trees or killing anyone. He could just relax. Or that's what he thought until he saw Hinata sitting on a bench, elbows resting on her knees and her face held within her hands; two bags set down at her feet. _That can't be good._ He walked up to her, feeling the tension around her. "Problem?"

The Hyuga looked up, a thought-filled look in her eyes, "I was just, um..." It took her a minute to form her thought. "Father kicked me out." She suddenly said, which took Sasuke aback. "He said that I couldn't hang out with you anymore, and when I went against him, he kicked me out. He also says that I can't return until I've broke all contact with you." She looked down, sadness in her eyes.

Sasuke didn't want her to be homeless, but he also wanted to stay friends. So the next words that came out of his mouth were easy enough to say. "Why don't you move in with me?" Her head shot up once again, staring hopefully into the Uchiha's eyes. "I don't live with anyone else, and my house is pretty large, so there's plenty of space. I can easily support the two of us for at least twenty lifetimes with the money left over from my clan. And lastly, we'll be able to see each other every day."

Hinata immediately got to her feet and jumped onto Sasuke, arms wrapped around his neck, head nuzzled against his chest. "Thank you." She mumbled into his shirt.

Sasuke pat her head, grabbing her waist and pulling her away just far enough so they could comortably look at each other. "Alright then. Grab your bags and we can go." Hinata nodded, turning around and grabbing her bags. She smiled, following Sasuke as he walked back towards the Uchiha manor.

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Hanabi sat next to her father as they meditated. As usual, he was working her to the bone; though she had gotten used to it, and decided that she was better off because of it. And even though she had spent almost every day with her father - Hiashi Hyuga - she still couldn't fully comprehend what went through his head. "Father?" Neither of them moved, or even opened their eyes and all he responded with was a small 'Hm?'. "Why did you tell Hinata-neechan that she couldn't spend time with the Uchiha? I mean, was it really that big of a deal?"

"Oh, Hanabi; there are things in this world that you don't understand. But one of the things you should understand is that a family as great as ours can never mix with the dreaded blood of an Uchiha."

Hanabi furrowed her brow, not quite understanding. "But you kicked neechan out when she disobeyed you. Isn't there a better chance of her staying with the Uchiha now?" The more that was explained to her, the more confused Hanabi got.

Hanabi could swear that she heard Hiashi chuckled, "Exactly." He didn't allow Hanabi to ask anymore, but simply told her to keep quiet and that she would understand later. The Hyuga girl sighed and went back to her meditating, sitting on the few things she had been told.

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Over the five years, Sasuke had cleaned up the Uchiha manor, washing away any dried up blood that was left from his clan's slaughter. He had chosen the room next to his own for Hinata's use; allowing her the space and privacy she needed for her bags and whatever else she needed - or wanted - to do. "I'm surprised you only have two bags with you." Sasuke ventured.

Hinata sighed, "It was all I could carry without it being too cumbersome. The rest of my stuff is at home." From her two bags, one was filled with several pairs of clothes; shirts, pants, underwear - panties and bras - and a jacket. In the other one was a towel, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and other such things.

"Well, that should be enough for now," Sasuke stated. "Besides, there's plenty of clothing that should fit you and enough supplies to last us quite a few years. If you need anything else, I can just go buy it for you." Though even if he said that, Sasuke knew that Hinata's personality wouldn't allow her to ask him for anything.

"Um, Sasuke?" The Uchiha cocked his head, ready to listen. "Where's your bathroom? I haven't taken a shower yet." Sasuke led her to the closest bathroom - the one he used for his morning showers - and half-jokingly gave her a warning not to slip. Hinata seemed to be a little annoyed - or perhaps embarrassed - about that one.

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Hinata closed the door behind her, hearing Sasuke's footsteps fade as he walked away from the bathroom. She put her fresh set of clothes that she would slip into after her shower next to the sink, the counter of which was quite large - and empty. She laid out everything that she would need, thankful that she didn't have to speed-shower since there was no one waiting to get in next.

She undressed, letting her clothes fall in a pile on the floor. But just before she stepped in, she saw something within the corner of her eye. She turned to see another pile of clothes haphazardly thrown onto the ground and she immediately knew what they were, _Sasuke's old clothes._

Her hand moved by itself, picking up the closest piece of his cloth - his shirt. For some reason, even unknown to her, she sniffed it, letting the Uchiha's odor waft into her nose. _Wait, what am I doing?_ She knew what she was doing was wrong, yet still she continued. Sasuke's scent was all that concerned her now.

Her right hand - the one that wasn't holding the dirty shirt - moved over to her breast, where the memory of Sasuke sucking out the poison still stuck with her. She remembered being in pain, but then slowly felt better, and then even a little pleasure from his mouth. She began playing with her nipple, imagining that it was the Uchiha who was teasing her.

A moan escaped her lips, her mouth opening to a gasp of the Uchiha's sweat. Her hand began tracing a path downward, until her fingers touch something wet. Her fingers opened up the way before she slipped them in, rhythmically going in and out. Every movement became another moment of bliss as she arched her back, rubbing her face even deeper into the shirt.

Faster and faster her fingers moved, her liquids completely soaking her hand. They began dripping onto the floor, but she had stopped caring at this point. Longer and harder she went in, gasping as she felt it coming. With a few final strokes she had finished, the fluids dripping onto the floor.

When the Hyuga finally realized what she had done, she quickly cleaned up and threw the shirt back onto the ground. She quickly jumped into the shower and turned on the water, ignoring how hot it was. She would wash herself so the Uchiha had no suspsicions of what she had done.

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After leading Hinata to the bathroom, Sasuke had decided that he'd make breakfast while he waited. The usual eggs and bacon, with whatever he had to drink. Today it was milk and orange juice. He had set out the table and laid the food out as well, now simply waiting for Hinata to finish showering.

He had already waited about twenty minutes, quite surprised that it could take someone his long to wash themselves. _Well, it is new to her and from what I've learned, women spend more time washing, as their hair needs more work._ It took half an hour before Hinata had finally come down, dressed in a simple white sleeveless shirt and loose black pants that stopped mid-shin. Her hair was perfectly brushed back and - most notably - the moisture had made her bra visible through her shirt, punctuated even moreso by the fact that the shirt was already skin-tight.

"Sorry I took so long." Hinata stated, sitting down where Sasuke indicated with his finger.

"Don't worry. I only finished cooking a few minutes ago." he had finished over fifteen in actuality, but he had learned from various places that it was better to make a woman feel like they had done nothing wrong. "Let's just eat, and then we can go walk around town together." Hinata nodded, giving no indication that she was against that plan.

The two quickly ate, washing the dishes before leaving. They decided - and by 'they' I mean 'Sasuke' - to go shopping to get Hinata a few extra furnishing and sets of clothes. They went through several different stores, the Uchiha having Hinata try on almost everything in the store, buying every outfit that he thought looked good on her. Several of them made her blush - especially when Sasuke's gaze upon her lingered.

In the end, Hinata went from five outfits to twenty-six; eight of which she was embarrassed to wear - and refused to in anyone's presence but Sasuke's. After Sasuke summoned a raven - or three - and had it (them) take the clothes back to his house, the Uchiha took Hinata to several places to eat; most of which she had never even heard of.

The two now sat at a table in a restaurant - nothing fancy - eating various foods from, what they assumed, were from all over the five shinobi villages. "Um, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha looked up from his fried(?) onigiri, "Hm?"

"Why did you go through so much trouble to treat me to these places? And also with the clothes?" The Hyuga looked extremely confused - though there was joy within her eyes, the Uchiha could see.

Sasuke shrugged, "Why not? I've had no reason to spend any money and you're clothing choices aren't too diverse. And why shouldn't I treat you to lunch? It keeps me from cooking, and you get to taste some delicious food."

Hinata nodded slightly, "I see." A minute of silence put Sasuke in quite an awkward mood, but the feeling was quickly pushed to the side when the Hyuga muttered, "Thank you." The Uchiha nodded, a slight smile coming to his face. The two ate and decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the village.

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He watched as the two enjoyed their day, the veins next to his eyes popping. "Oh Hinata, if only you knew what Hiashi was planning." Neji shook his head. "It's my job to protect her...but hell, I might be doing just that if I let her do as she likes. You'll be in a much better position than you are now; with someone who cares for you much more than your own father does." The off-duty ANBU sighed, following the two within the shadows, doing his job of protecting the Hyuga heiress. He just wondered how much longer that would be.

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**Okay; this is actually my second attempt at this chapter and, in all honesty, I think it came much better than the original version. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed and supported me thus far, and I hope will continue to support me to the very end. Until next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

The moonlight trickled in through the window, the covers stirring. He felt heavier than usual, his body weighed down by something. His chest felt extra weight pressed against him; but it was _soft_. His hands moved to relieve the weight from his body, but when he touched it, he stopped. What he grabbed felt squishy and _fleshy_.

When he lightly squeezed, a moan escaped from the weight. Then he knew what it was, _So apparently she can't sleep in such an empty house for so long without someone close by. _Sasuke sighed, wrapping his arms around the girl, sharing his warmth with Hinata, who he quickly found was half nude. His hands explored her body, and he found that all she was wearing was a very small tank-top that hung loosely from her breasts, keeping her abdomen exposed and some very tight shorts that were more like underwear, for they stopped at the beginning of the thighs.

It had been two weeks since she had moved in and she had spent every night alone, so the Uchiha assumed it was only natural to want some company. He had become used to it over the years of solitude; though he had to admit, it felt nice having someone else so close to him.

Then another moan escaped from Hinata and he realized that he was still touching her. He moved his hands away from any _delicate areas _and focused on her waist; which was firm but soft. _Dammit Uchiha, get your mind out of the gutter._

Then a _squawk _caught his attention. He turned his head to see a crow - no, _the _crow - staring straight at him. Once eye contact was made, the winged rodent flew off, _cawing_ with every flap of its wings. Sasuke Uchiha did not sleep well that night.

He slipped out of the bed once the first rays of sunlight streamed through his window, doing his best not to disturb Hinata. He sat quietly at his kitchen table, drinking a mug of coffee, too much on his mind for food. That crow had been nothing but trouble, but the thought of Hinata's body pressed against his own was still embedded into his string of thoughts, coming up every time he dealt with another matter. He admitted that it felt good, but that was it; he admitted nothing else and shoved the thought into the back of his mind, deciding that he'd deal with it later.

Once he was more awake, he went to take a shower, lightly closing the bathroom door behind him. He slipped out of his clothes and stepped into the shower, simply standing there as the scalding water came down. Once he was in there for a minute, he grabbed the soap and cleaned himself, the crow's cawing constantly filling his ears. Once cleaned, he stepped out, barely remembering that Hinata was in his room, and that he would have to wrap a towel around himself.

He stepped into his room, past the bed and over to the closet. He grabbed a pair of loose black pants and slipped them on, dropping the towel as he did. He then grabbed a loose long-sleeve black shirt and threw it over his head. Sasuke turned when he heard a yawn and saw that Hinata was sitting up, beginning to stretch, revealing her chest with the slightest raising of her arms.

The Uchiha couldn't help himself, "Pretty shameless for being in someone else's room, aren't you?" The Hyuga's eyes shot open, and she immediately realized where she was; _and_ what she was doing. Hinata put her arms down and folded them around her chest, blushing. Sasuke let a chuckle escape his lips, "Lonely last night?"

Hinata slightly nodded, "It's very quiet, and I'm not used to it. The Hyuga manor is usually bustling with noise, even at night, since people have duties at all times."

Sasuke shrugged, "Well, I just finished showering, so I suggest you go do the same. I'll get breakfast started." Hinata nodded, crawling out of his bed and heading next door, where her new room lay. The Uchiha sighed as he heard her door close. "Well, can't go back on my word. Better go make sure I've actually got food to cook." He did. He _always _did.

It had taken Hinata a half hour to shower - as usual - and by that time, Sasuke had finished cooking. Miso soup, dumplings and onigiri. Before she sat down, Sasuke was able to examine what she was wearing; a tight, sleeveless black shirt that stopped just at her waist, clinging to she had her usual jacket thrown over - though it was slipped off a little to show her bare shoulders, and the outer curves of her breasts.

They ate in peaceful quiet, cleaning up their dishes as usual and sitting back down with a cup of tea, to talk. There talks usually consisted of their dreams the previous night, current events and just general topics that peaked their interests.

Once done, the two left the manor and headed their separate ways, each having been invited to hang out with their groups of friends. Sasuke found himself at Ichiraku's - yet again - where he sat with a bowl of plain noodles in front of him; listening to Naruto babble on about something that Sakura did - punched him, probably. He silently slurped his noodles down as he kept just enough attention as to not agree or disagree to something without knowing what was going on.

"Hey, teme!" The Uchiha glanced to the side, giving nothing more than a "Hn?" to the blond-haired idiot. "You seem off today. Are you okay?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, having to agree with Shikamaru as he spoke.

"Isn't he always like this?" The porcupine Chunin stated monotonously.

Naruto shook his head, "No! He's usually giving smartass remarks at every other sentence that comes out of my mouth!"

"Isn't it a little weird that you actually noticed that I'm _not_ doing that?" Sasuke asked as he tried ignoring the strange squinting glare that the idiot was giving him. "Besides, I don't actually _have to_, do I? I mean, maybe I'm just not in an antagonistic mood today."

"Did something good happen?" Sai suggested, which put everyone's eyes on him.

_Dammit, I hate this guy._ Sasuke cleared his throat. "I'm in the same state of events that I've always been."

"You're not seeking revenge, you're an official Konoha ANBU, and Hinata Hyuga is staying at your house. I do believe that you were in a much different state only several years ago." Sai turned to see Sasuke staring straight into his eyes, with his own red, three-pupil pair. "I should run, perhaps?"

"Perhaps."

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"Y'know, you seem like you're in a much better mood lately, Hinata." Tenten remarked as they ate their dumplings and drank their tea. Ino and Sakura seemed to notice this as well, but didn't say anything, seeing as it wasn't any of their concern - also, they already seemed to have a pretty good idea of where her joy was emanating from.

But apparently Tenten was nosy.

The Hyuga heiress cocked her head, "I do?" She shrugged, "I hadn't really noticed."

"Could it have something to do with Sasuke?" The weapons-master suggested, which brought a blush to Hinata's cheeks as she thought about the way his hands had searched her body this morning. "I knew it, so you two _have_ done something!" The Hyuga tried denying it, but Tenten just started pelting her with questions; such as, "How far have you gone" and "How good is he" and even "What part of you does he prefer".

Sakura and Ino just ignored the questions as Hinata's face became a tomato and could get nothing out but a bit of muttering and Tenten continued on with her assumptions. After finally getting the weapons-master to shut up, Hinata was able to explain that, "They hadn't done anything." Tenten called bull, but ended up dropping the subject at Sakura and Ino's interference.

"Fine, fine." Hinata, Sakura and Ino sighed, picking up their cups of tea and began sipping. "So...how big is he?" And just like that, three of the girls were choking on their tea and one was laughing uncontrollably at their reactions.

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Running his right hand through his hair, Sasuke sighed, relaxing as he sat down on the unconscious Sai, who was sprawled on the pavement. Neji whistled as he walked forward, "That only took two-and-a-half minutes...approximately." The Hyuga stood next to the Uchiha as he watched a flock of birds fly over. "Sasuke."

"Hn?"

"We need to speak."

Sasuke relaxed his head back, letting his eyes close, "Hinata?"

"Yeah." Sasuke sighed, getting to his feet. He opened up his palm and slowly sliced his arm through the air, indicating that Neji would lead the way to wherever they were going to talk; which he did. They walked over to an empty street and sat down on a bench under a large tree.

"So, what is it?"

Neji sighed, "It's Hiashi's plan. Using you, he plans to-"

Sasuke sighed, "I figured it out a few days ago." He stated, which took Neji by surprise. "And don't worry, I do plan on telling Hinata the consequences...if it gets to that." The Uchiha jumped to his feet. "Just don't worry about it, alright?" He pat Neji's shoulder and turned around, stroding off. "Oh yeah," He called back. "You should try enjoying life a bit more. I didn't bring you back from the dead to work yourself back into your grave." He walked off, leaving those words to hang in the air.

Neji chuckled, "He's right...I wonder if Tenten's free this weekend." He touched his forehead, where the Hyuga's sealing symbol no longer existed.

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The girls had split up shortly after Tenten's final joke, all four of them having gotten sprayed with tea. Her shirt hugged her body as she tread back to the Uchiha manor. "I suppose there's a reason why you're soaking wet?" Hinata turned around to see Sasuke looking up and down, examining her. When she realized this, she used her arms to cover up her chest.

"T-tea accident." Even Hinata knew that it sounded like a pitiful excuse, but Sasuke didn't tease her any further about it.

"I would offer you my coat, but...I don't have a coat."

"N-no, that's alright."

The Uchiha cocked his head, "You want to change into my shirt?" The question took Hinata by surprise, her face going completely red. "I'll take that as a no."

"I-I-I'll just change a-at your p-place."

Sasuke shrugged, "Suit yourself." He began walking next to her, their steps in synchronization. "Hey, Hinata?" She turned to look at Sasuke. "How much do you like being the Hyuga heiress?"

The question confused Hinata, but she decided to answer. "To be honest...I'm not excited by it. I'm not a great leader and I'm constantly disappointing my father, who I know would rather have Hanabi as the next head of the clan than me. And I can understand why."

"I see."

The simple response kind of annoyed Hinata, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

"Something that serious; and you had no motivation for asking?"

"Yep."

"You're lying."

"You're mistaken."

"You're being suspicious."

"You're looking too much into it."

"You're avoiding the question!"

"And you moved your arms away from your chest."

The statement brought Hinata back to reality; and the reality was that Sasuke had a clear view of her bare chest, the netting shirt under covering nothing. She bit back a shriek as she put her arms back up against her chest.

"You should really start wearing bandages around those things if you're going to get wet."

"Bandages...itch." She was flustered from the statement, and Sasuke knew that she was on the brink of her patience.

The Uchiha wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in. "Sorry. I'll stop teasing." Hinata unconsciously pressed herself against him, relaxing and enjoying herself. _I wonder...what part of a girl does he prefer?_ Hinata shook her head, throwing out the thought. _Stupid Tenten! Now she has me thinking about it!_

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Light streamed in through the bars, the chains rattling as a _squawk_ pierced the air. The crow stepped through the bars and landed gently on the chains. the chains rattled some more as the person cuffed to the wall looked up, a smile touching their lips. "Hello my friend. I see that you've returned. I assume that the little thief is dead?" The crow _cawed_ in response. "Oh, and an Uchiha did it? Wonderful. Now, how about you free me and we go and give this person our thanks." One more _squawk_ sliced the air as the sound of chains snapping and falling to the ground reverberated through the night sky.

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**Okay, so! Seeing as I've finally stopped dicking around and decided to jump back into writing...here it is!**

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**Yeah, so I don't really have an excuse for why it took me so long to update, other than 'I'm lazy'. So, tell me what you think!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

Drops of water splashed up, dabbling onto the Shinobi's face as he peered over the edge, watching as the currents of water threw them forward. Pushing himself away from the rim, he turned around to see his traveling companion striding towards him. "Enjoying the view?" She asked, her hair shimmering within the sunlight; flowing less freely than usual thanks to the white ribbon restricting it into a tail.

He scratched the back of his head, staring into her beautifully clear eyes. "Not really. I'm just bored. I know I've been trained to keep my calm and wait things out; but we've been at sea for six days now, and I have never been so bored before. The only thing keeping me sane here is the fact that you came along to keep me company."

Cocking her head and letting her lips tilt slightly upward, her shoulders slightly shrugging which pushed up her chest, the Hyuga leaned forward. "So you enjoy my company," It wasn't a question. "And apparently, enough so that it's kept you from hurting anybody." She took a step forward, her smile a little bigger. "I guess you don't mind me being around all the time, at the least."

"We've been living together for over a month now. I really doubt _now_ would be the time that I lose enjoyment in your being near me." The Uchiha stated dryly - but truthfully. "Though seeing as we've had to share the same bed for the past six days, I can see where you would come up with the idea." _Even though we're sleeping together half the time now anyway._

"Captain! Hostile ships from the east!" Screamed one of the sailors, catching the two Shinobi's attention. "Hey, you heard that you two! Get out there and take care of them!" The captain screamed down at Sasuke and Hinata. Veeler was the captain's name, they had learned. He was quite tall, heavily built with a thick-set jaw and heavy eyes - one of which had been carved out. His nose was crooked and his lips blistered, but was mostly covered by the thick beard that hung down his abdomen.

Sasuke sighed, "Finally, some action." He jumped over the railing, chackra emanating from his feet as they touched the surface of the water. He saw from the corner of his eyes that Hinata had quickly followed after him, landing gently within the water. "Let's go." He said, turning his head slightly towards Hinata, who nodded quickly before they charged for the three approaching ships. "You take the one of the left, I'll take the right. Whoever finished first will get to deal with the third one."

"Right!" The two darted off in different directions, speeding past the lead ship, which was already filled with outlaws shooting arrows at them. With one leap, the Kunoichi flew over the railing of her assigned vessel, landing gracefully between a pair of pirates. Before they even got over their initial surprise, the Hyuga had already smashed her fingers into several of their chakra points, knocking them down for the count. Within the next few moments, she was surrounded by a circle of men, all armed with cutlasses or spears. There were even several archers on the bow above from where she was.

The next moments seemed to happen all at once. Two men came forward, one with spearpoint, the other with a swift, albeit flaky, slash. She ducked under the swordsman and then quickly jumped over the spearman, landing gently behind him. Using his momentum, she kicked his back and sent him flying into his comrade, impaling him. Before he had a moment to register what he had just done, the Hyuga had a kunai in hand and across his neck. She pulled, the blade sliding against the jugular. The spearman toppled to the ground like a ragdoll.

Then hearing the scream of another oncoming thug, she turned on the ball of her foot and slung her arm forward, releasing the kunai into his heart, dropping him. She jumped over the dead man's body, his momentum having sent him flying at her. As soon as she landed, arrows thunked next to her, the shafts quivering within ship's mast. Their aim was poor, she found, so for the moment, she could ignore them and give her attention to the slightly larger problem at hand.

Her hands flashed, kunai appearing between each of her fingers. Killing the last three had apparently given the rest of the crew second thoughts about rushing her. Which was good, as fear was always a good tool to have in a melee. Though with this, that meant that the archers were the bigger problem, especially since the arrows were getting closer to their target with every shot made. She ducked under one as she had the thought and spun around releasing the kunai from within her left hand. All of the kunai struck a target, but only two of the archers dropped dead, and one only to his knee. The third archer had been struck in the shoulder which would affect how much he could actually pull back the arrow. _I should practice on that. I should've been able to drop all three._

She switched one of the three remaining kunai in her right hand into her left hand, to be held like a dagger, while still cradling the other two between her fingers. The pirates were now once again circling her, steel glinting within the high-lying sun. She could see the caution within their eyes, the quivering from their legs and even hear their quickening heartbeats. _Perfect._

Fear only made it easier for an enemy; so the fact that she was the cause of theirs, made this the perfect situation. She pivoted away as the edge of a sword almost caught her by the neck, and then quickly ducked under another swipe directed towards her throat. She kicked off of the planked floor, spinning, smashing the ball of her foot into his jaw. She ended up going forward, landing in front of the initial attacker. As he tried a two-handed, downward slash, Hinata flung her left hand up, releasing the lone kunai up through the bottom of the man's head, the knife going straight through his skull, the tip protruding from the top of his head. The weight of the sword dragged him backwards, his body crashing into the ship with a _thunk_.

Deciding that their lives weren't worth it, the rest of them dropped their weapons and fled, flinging themselves overboard; though the smart ones took an empty cask or two with them. Hinata smiled, "They should be glad that I wasn't Sasuke, or none of them would've left alive." She turned her head towards the ship the Uchiha had taken. "Speaking of which, I wonder if he's done."

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They were carefully stepping around him, looking for an opening. He stood like a statue; solid and still, poised and ready for an attack. The first three that had come at him lay dead by his feet, each one with a severed limb. He had moved like lightning, the steel of his blade shimmering in the light for only a split moment, before it was sheathed yet again. "If you're not going to come at me," The Uchiha began, the pirates jerking back a little, "Then I'll come at you."

All they saw was a blur of motion as he disappeared, flashes of steel blinking by each outlaw before something was cut off, limbs and bodies crashing to the ground; blood filling the ships deck. He was now standing on the railing on the next level, glaring into the leader's eyes. Sasuke never even blinked as his pupil broke apart into several, lines connecting them. "Suffer." The man fell in a heap of terror, his mind destroyed. The Uchiha never knew what they saw, but he knew most never returned to normal afterwards.

He walked over to the edge of ship and jumped, landing on the water and charging. He unsheathed his blade as he ran, lightning shooting out of it. He pulled it to his side and stopped running, simply sliding on the water. Sensing that Hinata wasn't on the ship, he slashed. The wood splintered and shattered, the large mass of wood and iron nails splitting in two. The two halves of the ship sunk, the outlaws screaming as the ones who couldn't swim drowned and the ones who could were electricuted by the blade of lighting that now dipped into the ocean. He even noticed some fishes that rose, fried and actually ready to eat.

He sheathed his sword, the lightning quickly stopping and disappearing. He cocked his head to the side to see Hinata land next to him, "Went a little overboard, don't you think?" The Hyuga asked, doing her best to not look at the carnage. The Uchiha simply shrugged. She sighed, "Let's just get back to our own transport. Our chakra won't keep us floating forever, and I doubt we can catch up to a ship, by swimming."

"Yeah, good point. Let's go." The two shinobi ran after the ship that threatened to leave them behind.

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He was thankful when his feet touched solid ground, giving his head a moment to adjust, as did Hinata. They had docked at a small dock which led into a small smuggling town; which was their destination. Apparently, a rogue shinobi had escaped, and this was the only lead they had. _Shinsomaru, I think his name was._ "Come on Hinata, let's go explore." They ended up deciding that it would be better to split up and search for any information on who might've seen him.

She started questioning the inns; the most likely places to have information. She easily found confirmation that their target had come through the town, but she still didn't have any information on where he went. So that's why she now sat in the corner of a tavern, awaiting for the arrival of someone who she was told _did know_. A smuggler; Raishi. She was told that he knew just about everything that went on in the small town, and that if he didn't know, nobody would.

She immediately recognized him, as the door swung open. He had a scar going from his left nostril down to the right of his chin, and his right ear had a piece torn off. From the description she had been given, she knew he was Raishi. Even the huge figure and broken nose fit perfectly. She waited for him to sit down at a table, joining two other largely built people, immediately huddling together and whispering.

She gathered her wits and stood up, striding over to him. He noticed her presence just as she got to the table and sat down across from him. "Raishi?" Hinata could already tell that he was examining her; measuring her up. In the end, he decided that she was no threat.

"What do you want?" His voice was gruff and his tone sharp; his tone filled with confidence and arrogance that came with constant authority.

She quickly recalled all the details she could of Shinsomaru, "I'm looking for a man. Roughly five feet and three inches, with brown hair and green eyes. His skin is pale and his muscles pretty well developed. Finally, he has a scar on his left bicep."

A shine of recognition appeared within the man's eye, but he did his best to hide it; but you hide _nothing _but a Jounin. "And what does that matter to me?" He leaned back in his seat, giving off an air of nonchalance.

Hinata gave her cutest and purest smile, "I was told that you know everything that goes on in this town...well, _almost_. I need to know which way he was heading."

"And you assume I know this little tidbit, how?"

Knowing that it was going to take flattery, Hinata prepared herself - mentally, of course. "Ah, so I guess you aren't as great as I'd been told. Shame. I like knowledgeable people." Seduction worked to.

"Don't start thinking that I'm easy to fool, you hear me girl? It's going to take a lot more than pretty words or a few hand brushes to get me to tell a complete stranger anything."

Hinata sighed, "I see. Too bad. That seems this is going to take longer than expected."

Raishi sniggered, "Look girl, if you're not gonna commit to a lie, don't bother starting one. But, y'know, if you did actually take this lie further, I might be more inclined to begin remembering."

"So you do know where he went." It was not a question.

He simply shrugged, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I have to finish remembering. But hey, maybe some initiative would help speed things along."

"Gladly." A voice came out of nowhere as two daggers pierced through the giant's hands, stapling them to the table top. Before his two buddies could move, a fist was smashed into each of their faces, knocking them out cold. "Now," The Uchiha leaned forward, "How about we begin that _initiative_." His eyes glew red as he stared down into the man's eyes.

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"You know you didn't have to do that, right?" The two shinobi were jumping through trees as they tracked their target down South.

"Yeah, but you were taking too long." Sasuke replied, not really noticing the tone of annoyance in the Hyuga's voice. "Besides, with your tactic, you might've actually ended up doing something with him. And I prefer you untouched...well, for now." The last statement brought a blush to Hinata's cheeks and a torrent of thoughts into her head. "You feel that?" The Uchiha suddenly asked, which brought Hinata back to reality.

And in fact, she did sense it. A strange flow of chakra mixed together with another one; a _fading_ one. The two decided to hurry up and rush to the spot that the chakra was coming from.

They landed softly on the a grass-covered clearing to see their target lying on the ground, his eyes staring blankly into the sky, the rest of his body lying face down. Only ten meters away was a giant rock and a sitting figure, features hidden from the deep shadows of the tree he was under.

"Who are you?" Sasuke stepped forward, sword drawn. The strange chakra was flowing from this one person; strong enough to where it was almost palpable.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" The man looked up, left eye glowing a bright red, black hair falling freely. "Sasuke?"

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**Thank you Encuentrame for the suggestion about Itachi; I will use it well. Also, thanks to all of you who have reviewed and I hope to keep this story going for quite a while longer (hopefully with your support).**


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, I apologize in advance for such a long wait, for such a short chapter. But don't worry, I will be doing my best to make the next few chapters longer than usual.**

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My Sweet Yuki-Hime

"Its been awhile, hasn't it, Sasuke?" There was no way he could be here. He died; Sasuke had witnessed it. The deed had been done by his own hands. But here he was. The body, the voice, and even the eye were all the same. Itachi Uchiha sat across the clearing, the only damage to his body being the missing eye. "Why so quiet? It looks as if you've seen a ghost." He let a small smirk come to his features at the jest.

The statement knocked Sasuke out of his confusion, "You're dead." The one-eyed Uchiha held up his arms out wide, shrugging, which gave a clear response; _Yet here I am._ "I killed you myself. How can you be here now?"

"You."

It took a moment for Sasuke to register his brother's meaning. "What do you mean? That _I_ brought you back?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"But...how?"

Itachi chuckled, "Sasuke. Do you remember the one thing that can control the ten tails?" Before he could get out a reply, the older Uchiha continued. "Us. The Uchihas. Or more specifically, our eyes. The sharingan. You know this clearly, for you took control of it; and used it to kill Madara. And then you used its power to bring back those who had been killed."

"So what you're saying..."

"Is that you also brought me back. You having taken my eyes, you had a shred of my life, my soul, inside of you. From that, you were able to bring me back, and did. Though it was subconsciously on your part."

The statement hit Sasuke like a bull, "But...why did you wait so long to-"

"I was captured."

"...That woman?"

Itachi nodded, putting a hand over his empty eye socket. "She caught me in my weakened state, using a strange jutsu to capture me. She took one of my eyes, and the other..." He chuckled, "She took and used as a guide; something to help her along the way as she learned how to use it."

"The crow." Sasuke stated bluntly.

Itachi nodded, "Yes, she bound it under her control, though I saw and heard everything it did. Well, after it came back to me...which I should thank you for. As long as she lived, it was forced to follow and guide her. But once you killed her, nothing bound it and it returned to me; it's rightful owner. And with that done, and my vision back, I was able to break the chains that held me and escape. Though it's not like they really held me all that securely."

Sasuke shook his head, "Then why didn't she kill you?"

"If she did, her _guide_ would've disappeared. She was the one who forced its manifestation, but it was still _my_ eye, and _my _lifeforce. With me gone, she would've had to learn how to use the sharingan on her own. Quite lucky for me."

Sasuke shook his head, "I don't believe this."

Itachi cocked his head, "Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. I'm here, and I'm here to stay. I had hoped that there would be no problems with that."

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Hinata had stood there silently, not wanting to interrupt the two Uchiha's reunion. But now she could feel how tense the air was. She was about to speak, until Sasuke began laughing. She took a step back, surprised at his sudden reaction. "Well, I guess I'll just think of this as a dream and go with it!"

"Interesting way of viewing it," Itachi replied with a smirk, getting to his feet. He walked over towards them, stepping over the unconscious - or more likely dead - person that he had taken out. He now stood in front of Sasuke, and standing still for a few seconds, it was unexpected when he thrust his right hand forward. The sudden movement caught Hinata off by surprise, and she was worried when Sasuke made no move to avoid it.

Which would've been unneeded, as Itachi's index protruded out of his enclosed hand and poked the younger Uchiha's forehead. "Lets go." He stated, turning his head towards the young Hyuga heiress...

And smiled.

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Sasuke had decided to leave the rogue's body where it lay - after making sure he was dead, of course. They now stood back on the bow of a ship that was now taking them back to Konoha. Sasuke was currently talking to Itachi, getting up to date with everything that had happened over the years. A lot had reached Itachi's ears, but not everything. What he had heard however, through his crow-manifested eye, was that Hinata was staying at the Uchiha manor.

"I assume that there's a reason for her staying?" Itachi asked casually, looking over the sea towards the direction that Konoha lay.

Sasuke glanced over to his brother, "Hiashi, her father, didn't like her hanging out with me, and she refused to stop seeing me, so he kicked her out."

Itachi let out a long whistle, "He never was known for taking well to disobedience, as I remember."

The younger of the Uchihas sighed, "Yeah, I got that. I assume you'll be wanting your old room?" He asked, changing the subject.

Itachi decided not to push the matter, "That'd be preferable. I assume that you've cleaned up since my going?" The younger of the two decided not to answer that question, instead deciding to ignore it. "So how's the village been faring?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Better than when Madara was around."

"I see." With nothing left but preferable silence, the two Uchihas silently watch as the ship rides into port, mentally preparing themselves for the return to the village.


	15. Chapter 15

My Sweet Yuki-Hime

The cobblestone portway uttered muffled clacks as the soft boots of shinobi clicked down and lifted up, only to click back down. The kunoichi of the three began stretching, her muscles still stiff from the not-so-smooth boat ride back to land. She watched as the two brothers talked amongst themselves, happy to see her companion reunited with the last of his family; even if the explanation was still hidden and unclear.

Once her muscles had relaxed and the soreness went away, Hinata was happily strolling beside her favorite shinobi and his brother. It would take several days to get back to Konoha, so with plenty of time to talk, they decided to spend their first hour on the road in silence. Hinata glanced over at Sasuke, who seemed to be deep in thought.

Though not so deep that he didn't notice Hinata. He glanced over towards her, making eye contact. She quickly looked away, her cheeks turning into a light shade of red. She found it ridiculous, but she hadn't really had a decent conversation with the Uchiha in the last three days, since he had been busy catching up with Itachi. Now she found herself too out of place to even look him in the eyes.

The younger of the brothers let out the smallest of sighs before placing his hand on Hinata's head. Itachi ignored the motion, giving the two their little moment, as Sasuke had explained the situation to him the first day they had gotten on the ship. He had found it amusing, in a way, but also understood the Hyuga heiress's position, as he was also in the same position when he was younger. Though things were different and not so...demanding.

They walked like this for several minutes, before they all suddenly stopped, completely freezing up their bodies' movements. They were sure that they had heard something, and even more so, now that they were sure that the other two had as well. Sasuke slowly moved his hand down to the hilt of his sword, while the other two shinobi made no such movements. "I'm counting six of them." Hinata whispered to the two Uchiha's.

Trees began rustling, and the three shinobi spread out, easily dodging the torrent of shuriken and kunai that came flying at them. Sasuke drew his sword and spun 180 degrees, blade meeting with metal claws. Sparks flew as steel met steel, lighting falling onto the ground and burning out as it smothered itself in dirt. Sasuke stared straight into a bolted mask, the man's features completely covered. He grunted as extra force behind the claws was applied, pushing his back. The Uchiha solidly planted his foot into the ground and pushed, electricity pulsing around his blade, immediately beginning to slice through his opponent's weapon.

It must've alerted him, because the masked man sprung backwards, but before Sasuke could chase after him, another one was behind him, large scythe in hand, blade swinging down at him. He stepped back, barely avoiding the large, curved blade that plunged into the dirt. He smashed his elbow into her stomach, hearing the masked woman coughing up what he assumed was blood. He ducked as the bolted mask's claws came for his neck. He leaned forward and pushed himself off of the ground, smashing himself into the bolted man's chest, smacking him into the ground and knocking the air out of him. He raise his hand into the air, sword pointed downward. He thrust the point down, aiming for the man's neck.

There was no sound, and no sign of the man dying except for their final spasm. The young Uchiha withdrew his sword, blood sliding down the long steel. As he got to his feet, his eyes morphed into the red, multi-lined terrors that had made the Uchiha clan so well known. The scythe that came swinging at him with the speed of lightning looked as though it was at a turtle's crawl. Swinging his sword with one quick lightning-enveloped slash, the scythe's long, curved blade fell into the dirt, the momentum forcing it to slide, bringing up dust.

With only another second of their life, the woman could do nothing but stand there as the blade sliced off her head, the lifeless skull tumbling onto the ground. As the woman's decapitated body fell to the ground, Sasuke quickly ran the sides of his sword on each of her shoulders, wiping the blood off onto her clothing, which in a moment smashed into the dirt and left her lying there, for the crows.

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Itachi grabbed the sword blade between his fingers, ducking down and spinning, launching his foot into the air, and into the second man's jaw, whipping him into the dirt. He flexed his fingers and snapped the sword's blade in half, grabbing the shattered piece and shoving into the sword wielder's calf, taking him to the ground, before a kunai was directed into his neck, going through meat and bones, blood spraying all over the dead one's neck. That left Itachi with two left, one of them standing several feet behind him, and the other dragging himself off from the ground. Itachi slowly got back to his full height, turning around to stare into the eyes of the one standing away from him, a tomahawk in each of their hands.

Itachi smirked, the tomahawk-wielding woman flinching at his confidence. She quickly regained herself, and charged. Each of her blades made contact; one slicing into his side, the other into his neck. She began to smile, stopping as she saw the Uchiha turn into goop. She gasped as her back arched, the blade of a kunai digging deeper into her spine, her body going limp and her mind going blank.

Itachi withdrew his knife, letting the woman's body fall to the ground, a pool of blood forming at his feet. He ducked as a mace came straight for his neck, spinning on his heels to face his final enemy. He shot straight up, staring deep into the depths of his foe's eyes. Their grip loosened, scimitar smacking into the dirt. Their eyes became dilated, and he fell to the ground, mind broken.

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Twisting on her heels, Hinata easily dodged the savage blows that aimed to kill her. The spear came flashing forward, the lightning-fast strikes always attempting to maim her. As the man attempted to sweep her feet with the pole, the Hyuga jumped, spinning in mid-air, landing gracefully on one foot. She continued the spin, leg straight out, delivering a full-force roundhouse kick to her enemy's temple. But, unlike the others, he took the fall in stride, rolling and quickly shooting back up to his feet. He began spinning his spear, wind beginning to gather around his body, and wrapping around his weapon. He grabbed it's shaft, stilling it. It looked as though a small typhoon had engulfed his weapon, a constantly spinning cyclone dragging dirt, rocks and whatever else was small enough to be sucked into its vortex.

Hinata's hair blew into her face, but it wasn't really a distraction, as she was used to these kinds of things during battle. She braced herself as the enemy shinobi came flying at her, suddenly lifting into the air and literally came flying at her, coming at over thirty miles per hour. She ducked under, but the cyclone was actually quite strong. Strong enough that it pulled her backwards, taking her off balance. Once the Hyuga's opponent hit the ground, he spun around, using the spear to knock her to the ground.

Hinata twisted mid-air, putting her hands on the ground. She quickly pushed herself up, letting the spearhead careen into the ground, right in front of her face. She flipped forward, gripping the spear's shaft and holding herself there as she sent the bottoms of her feet flying into the shinobi's face, toppling him backwards. He reeled but was able to regain his balance, though he was disarmed now.

Hinata pushed herself off of the spear, landing gracefully in front of it, letting it hit the dirt with a resounding 'pff'. She took her usual stance, seeing the rage beginning to build up in the man's eyes. He growled at her, crouching down, preparing to spring. He pulled out a pair of small scythes. He held them with a reverse-grip, blade points directed towards her. Wind began gathering around him, his eyes making a deadlock with hers. His body sprung straight at her, arms moving in an arc.

Without a second thought, Hinata kicked her leg down, smashing it into the end of the spear shaft that was still lying on the ground behind her. Her kick launched it upward and over her shoulder. She grabbed it with her other hand and brought it arcing down, the blade smashing down into his skull. She didn't get out free of injury though, the scythes flew from his hands in mid-flight, one slashing against her shoulder, though the other one she was able to sidestep.

Sighing, Hinata spun around, coming face to face with Sasuke, who was eyeing her injured shoulder. "You're injured." He stated, putting his hand on her shoulder and leaning forward. Hinata blushed at how close he was, but didn't back away. Sasuke pulled away, and then almost immediately he pulled out a bandage. "Hold out your arm." She did as instructed, allowing him to fix her up. He made sure it was snug, but not tight. Giving one final tug, he nodded at his work. "Not the best, but it'll get you back to the village."

Hinata nodded, smiling. "Thanks, Sasuke."

They turned around to see Itachi watching them, hiding a smirk that he obviously wanted to show. "Oh, shut up." Sasuke said to his brother. "So, can we assume that they're something to watch out for, or just bandits."

"Rogue ninja." Itachi corrected. "So, no, I don't think we'll have to worry about them. Now, lets get going. I wish to see the village again." He continued down the road, not waiting to see if Sasuke or Hinata was following him.

Sasuke sighed, looking over at Hinata. "Well, lets get going." She nodded, and the two set off after him.

* * *

**So a few things. One, I apologize for how long this took. Two, I'll try to update more regularly. Three, thanks to everyone who has supported me up until this point.**


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